Origin of Darkness
by KatonRyu
Summary: Headmaster Ozpin asks Team RWBY to secretly sabotage the White Fang's operation, under the guise of discovering the origin of the Grimm. Ruby and Weiss, however, may find out more about each other in the process as well. White Rose, Ruby x Weiss. Rated M for later chapters.
1. The Name's Bont, Jim Bont

**Here we are. The start of what will hopefully be an epic adventure in which Team RWBY gets to save the world. This story takes place post-Volume 2, in what's essentially an alternate timeline. Anything from Volume 3 or later will not be integrated into the story, although it might receive nods in the future. I have a lousy track record with multi chaptered fics, but I'm hoping I can keep this one going. This fic** _ **will**_ **get into more mature territory later, hence the M rating. With all of that out of the way, please Read and Review. I want to become better at what I do, and I can't do that without your help. If you love it, tell me why. If you hate it, tell me why. Above all, though, enjoy reading!**

 **Chapter One: The name's Bont, Jim Bont**

Have you ever noticed just how many doodles you can fit onto a desk? I mean, I haven't exactly counted the ones here but there's gotta be dozens of them. I guess there were a lot of people here getting inspired by the atmosphere, but honestly that's kind of hard to imagine; it's dustier in here than in an old barn.

Still, looking at the history of desk doodles is a lot more interesting than listening to a long story about societal norms and values decades before I was even born. I don't even know what the societal norms are _now._ Some of these doodles, though, are as clear as the blue sky on a sunny day. There's some Beowolves, a Boarbatusk, I guess those little flying things around them are supposed to be Nevermores. Whoever drew these had to spend way too much time here, unlike the person who'd drawn, um, certain male parts at several points of the desk. Honestly, why do guys even do that? It was the same back at Signal. In every classroom, there was at least one 'lap rocket', as Yang likes to say.

Maybe I could change this one into something more appropriate. I took out my pen, but just as I put its tip down on one of the lines Weiss decided to glance over. She saw the position of the pen on the dude piston, and immediately I saw her eyes widen dangerously. Crap.

"What are you doing, you Neanderthal?" she hissed.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear," I pleaded. "My pen's a different color, see?" I demonstrated by drawing a line, which was blue instead of black.

"Stop defacing the desk," Weiss replied. I think I saw some steam coming from her ears there.

"I was trying to make it better," I defended myself. Sometimes I wonder why I feel the need to dig my own grave like this.

"I just wanted to turn that thing into something less, um, juvenile." I was actually going to say childish, but I was hoping my more mature word would change Weiss's mind about being angry. Judging by her expression, I wasn't succeeding.

"Just pay attention, okay? You might learn something," Weiss said.

She gave me one last roll of her eyes before turning back to her notes, which had been written in an absolutely perfect cursive and there weren't even any drawings in the sidelines. I glanced at my own notes. My handwriting isn't bad, but every little bit outside the lines was filled with drawings of weapons. I also noticed that my notes ended on the words 'blah blah snore blah'.

Strange as it may seem, I felt a bit guilty for that. One reason for that was Dr. Oobleck, our teacher. We, that's Weiss, Blake, Yang, and me, had gone on a mission with him not too long ago, to look for a hideout a guy named Torchwick was using for his evil plans. During that mission he'd told me why he was a Huntsman. He told me that knowledge is the most powerful weapon of all, and that he teaches here because he wants to give everyone that weapon. I'd never even considered that option, really. My pattern is more along the lines of 'see Grimm, kill Grimm'.

My _other_ reason for feeling guilty over not paying attention was Weiss. She and I…well, when I first met her she kind of frightened me, and then I exploded. No, really. It was like I couldn't do anything right for her. Of course we ended up in a team, and at that point I thought we'd become friends, only to find out she still didn't think I was good for anything when she told me Headmaster Ozpin had made a mistake by making me the team leader. That day, I learned what it means to be a leader, and ever since then I've tried really hard to be a good leader. Weiss even brought me coffee that night. When I came here I'd never have believed it, but now I think Weiss is really my best friend. I owe it to her to be a leader she can be proud of.

That's a lot easier said than done, though. I know Dr. Oobleck wouldn't tell us useless information but statistics and summations aren't exactly my thing. And besides, it's Friday. The thought of being free from dusty classrooms and crudely drawn dongers was a very, very welcome one. For now, though, I'd have to settle for listening to Dr. Oobleck rave on and on about people six decades ago. At least he spoke quickly, unlike some other teachers I've had.

I looked at Team JNPR, a couple of rows beneath us, and saw that Jaune had completely given up on listening to the story. A quick scan around the hall told me he wasn't the only one, although I knew at least Cardin _could_ follow it, he just chose not to. As for me, well, I've never had a problem keeping up with Dr. Oobleck's speed. With my Semblance I could outrun anyone here, even him. Not that I'd challenge him or anything. I don't really like being the center of attention.

I looked at the clock, and to my relief I saw that it was just about time for class to end. I started packing my bag.

"Oh, before I forget: I'd like Team RWBY to stay for a moment after class," Dr. Oobleck said.

I stopped packing my bag. Stay after class? Had he heard my little exchange with Weiss earlier? But if that was it, why did Yang and Blake have to stay as well? I looked at my teammates. Yang and Blake just looked confused, but Weiss seemed to have the same thought I had a moment before.

"Now look what you've caused! If we're in trouble because of your irresponsible behavior…"

"I didn't even do anything," I said, throwing my hands up in despair.

Weiss made an annoyed sound and rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. Would you believe me if I told you she drives me up the wall sometimes? Still, that's just the way she is. And if it was really my fault…then, well, she had a point with being angry. I don't like it when Weiss is angry with me, so I was quite anxious while I sat waiting for the lecture hall to empty out, hoping that whatever Dr. Oobleck had to tell us had nothing to do with my artistic skills. My feet felt heavy as I walked down the steps towards his desk. I'd rather face a pack of angry Ursai than Weiss if it turned out I was at fault here. At least the worst Ursai can do is kill you. My heart was beating in my throat when I stood next to Dr. Oobleck's desk. Weiss was looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, ladies, thank you for waiting," Dr. Oobleck began. He didn't sound angry. Maybe I'd get out of this one unscathed. Weiss still didn't seem convinced, though. "Professor Ozpin asked me to give you a message," Dr. Oobleck said.

Relief washed over me like a wave. "Yes!" I shouted, pumping my fist into the air.

"Enthusiasm! I like to see that, Miss Rose," Dr. Oobleck said approvingly. My teammates, meanwhile, just shot me strange looks and Weiss had her lips pressed together so hard she might as well have them superglued shut.

"This evening after everyone has gone to bed, he wants us all to meet him in his chambers. It is of utmost importance that you tell no one about this. That will be all, so I will see you tonight." With a short nod, Dr. Oobleck sped off.

"Oookay. That wasn't weird at all," Yang said with a slight shake of her head.

"What could the Headmaster possibly want with us?" Weiss asked. Apparently the superglue had worn off.

"It can't be good," Blake said grimly. I really like Blake, but sometimes I wish she'd lighten up a bit.

"Oh, it'll be fine. He wouldn't ask us for something if he wasn't sure we could handle it," Yang said with a shrug.

"Do you think it has something to do with Torchwick?" I asked as we began walking back to our dorm.

"Oh, I hope it does," Yang replied, and for a moment her eyes glowed red. "I have something to settle with that umbrella-wielding bi…"

"Yang!" Weiss interrupted her.

Yang made an impatient noise. "What? Is my language too harsh for your delicate ears?" she said mockingly.

"That's not what I mean. You're talking too loudly, and Oobleck told us not tell anyone about this. Besides, we're not even sure what it is he wants us to do. It could be completely unrelated," Weiss said.

Someone who didn't know her would think Yang's mocking remark hadn't affected her, but I could see her shoulders were a bit tenser, as sure sign she was holding back a stream of insults and smugness.

"Smartass…" Yang muttered under her breath.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Weiss said as we walked on.

Now that Weiss's back was to Yang, I could see my sister casually flipping her off and then grinning at Blake, who actually smiled back. Little things like these are the reason I love my team so much. We get along just fine, and we may have our share of tussles, which are neither mushrooms nor sprouts, by the way, but we can always count on each other. I honestly wouldn't want it any other way.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful, aside from our run-in with Team JNPR, who wanted to know why we'd been told to stay after class.

"Um, well, we, um…" I stammered. What else was I supposed to say? Lying isn't really my thing.

"We volunteered to do an extra assignment for extra credit," Weiss said smoothly. "Dr. Oobleck was giving us the details. It's about the Statute on Dust Storage that was instated after the Great War," she went on.

I'm amazed she didn't fall asleep halfway through that sentence. Although that answer surprised Team JNPR, Yang, Blake, and me quickly sided with Weiss's story, so they had no choice but to believe us. Okay, so even our run-in with Team JNPR wasn't that eventful. Sue me. Not everything in a Huntress's life is glamorous.

Despite the lack of anything happening, though, I was eager to learn what was in store for us. Maybe it had something to do with the upcoming Vytal Festival.

Maybe my eagerness was plainly visible on my face, because at some point Weiss said, "Are you going have that grin on your face tonight as well?"

Unlike this afternoon, though, she didn't sound annoyed this time. She looked a bit amused, actually. Her eyes didn't have that cold gleam, but more of a little sparkle. She looked pretty adorable like that, actually. It gave me a weird sort of flutter in my stomach.

"Well, aren't you excited?" I asked her. "Besides, I like this sneaky spy stuff where we can't tell anyone what we're up to."

I imagined myself in a black tuxedo, like that famous spy Jim Bont.

"Too bad you took that so literally earlier when we ran into Pyrrha and the others then," Weiss said smugly, shattering my cool mental image of myself.

Now I pictured Weiss as Bont's arch enemy Bluefield. She even had the scar over her eye, all that was missing was the cat. Well…Blake's a cat Faunus, I guess. What would that make Yang, though? Bont's hot girlfriend? Yeah, no thanks. I love my sister, but not like that.

"What on Remnant are you thinking about now?" Weiss asked apprehensively. I guess she'd learned to fear my, um, thoughtful look. According to Yang I get this thousand mile stare whenever I'm imagining things and that tends to weird people out, apparently.

"Nothing, Bluefield," I said happily, then walked off before Weiss could ask me what I meant by that.

* * *

At long last, evening arrived. When the distant clock tower struck one, we headed out. I was giddy with anticipation and almost skipping along. Weiss didn't seem too amused by it, but I knew she was happy to have been summoned too. She might not show it the same way I do, but Weiss too wants to help people in any way she can, just like the time she agreed to help find out more about Torchwick and the White Fang despite telling us we weren't ready for it.

The elevator ride up was different from last time, when I'd been alone. That time I may have pressed all the buttons. I wanted to do it again, but my desire to know what was going on was stronger. A soft 'ding' announced we had arrived on the top floor, Headmaster Ozpin's chamber. We stepped into his huge office.

Gears spun on the ceiling, his desk had gears in it and even his chair was made of gears…arranged in a shape that reminded me of the doodles on the desk. Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch and Dr. Oobleck were waiting for us.

"Good evening, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang," Professor Ozpin said with a small incline of his head. We mumbled something to the same effect. Apparently our eagerness to find out what was going on was plain to see, because Professor Ozpin chuckled softly.

"I take it you're wondering why I asked you to come here," he said.

Without waiting for our confirmation he went on, the smile disappearing from his face. "I'm afraid my reasons for calling this meeting aren't trivial. We have received reports that the people behind the recent attack on Vale are planning something around the Vytal Festival. Not only that, they seem to have something in store for Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo as well."

He paused and looked at us. Without looking at the others I knew their expressions had hardened, just like mine. "The debacle around that last attack has cost me a lot of influence, so I am no longer in a position to convince those in power to listen to me when it comes to this threat. My friend James, though he means well, might be playing into their hands by having the Atlesian fleet here for the Festival. Therefore, only one option remains to me. I must send a team to covertly sabotage the plans our enemies are making."

My heartrate climbed. I knew what he was going to ask, but I wanted to hear him say it. "The four of you and Bartholomew have engaged them before. You know better than anyone how these people operate, and for that reason I'm choosing you for this task. This is no small matter. Accepting this mission will mean you lose your chance to participate in the Vytal Festival. Furthermore, you will be outside of the kingdoms for an extended period of time."

He paused once more. There was a catch, and I was sure he was about to reveal it. Judging by the apprehension my friends showed, they thought the same. "Since this is essentially a counter-terrorism operation, you will need a cover. Bartholomew is a historian, very interested in the origins of the Grimm. Officially, the mission I'll send you on is to find out where the Grimm come from. Such a mission would legitimately require you to travel all over the world…but a lot of it will involve camping out in the wild for extended periods of time. Not only because the hideouts are likely there, but also because Grimm don't appear within the kingdoms naturally. Make no mistake: this mission will _not_ be comfortable, or easy."

He fell silent. "Professor, I'm sorry for disagreeing," Weiss began hesitantly, "But is this really something we should be doing? We're first-years."

"I think it's awesome," Yang said. "Lots of fighting, a chance to find that umbrella chick and ram her umbrella right up…"

"Be that as it may," Professor Ozpin interrupted her, "The four of you have a knack for getting tangled with these people. You have proven yourself resourceful enough to do this time and time again."

He looked right at me now. "Ruby, you are the team leader. What is your answer?"

I looked at my friends. Yang nodded with a gleeful determination. Blake nodded as well, but more solemnly. Weiss hesitated. I could see the doubt plain in her eyes, but soon her look became resolved. She gave me a small nod as well. I turned back to Professor Ozpin.

"We'll do it," I said. I never even had to think about it. By doing this, we'd be saving lives. There wasn't a single part of me that would have wanted anything else.

Professor Ozpin nodded grimly. "I'm sorry I'm sending you on this dangerous mission, but you are the only hope we have," he said. "To prevent arousing suspicion, you will depart on Monday morning. That will be all. Get plenty of rest this weekend, and on behalf of Beacon and the entirety of Vale, thank you."

We turned around and headed back towards the elevator. Dr. Oobleck and Professor Goodwitch hadn't said a word throughout all of this, but now I heard Professor Goodwitch saying something to Professor Ozpin.

"Why didn't you tell them?"

I had to strain to make out his answer. "Because they have enough to deal with already."

After that, the elevator doors closed. Tell us what, I wondered as the elevator started up. What was Professor Ozpin hiding from us? And what would await us outside the kingdoms? I took a deep breath. It was time for Jim Bont to begin his mission.

 **For anyone wondering, Jim Bont does actually follow the RWBY naming rules. 'Bont' is a Dutch word meaning 'multi-colored'. Aside from that, next chapter will be from Weiss's POV. I intend to switch between Ruby and Weiss each chapter to add a bit of variety. Hope to see you there!**


	2. The Crow And The Rose

**There we are. This chapter was an enormous pain to write because I didn't really know what direction to take it in, and it ended up twice as long as the last one. I really hope I can keep it down a bit for the next chapter, if only to make my updates quicker. Nevertheless, I hope you still enjoy it. Please Read and Review, because I always seek to better myself.**

 **To the people who reviewed the previous chapter: thank you! Your feedback is very welcome. I'd especially like to thank the person who made the remark about Ozpin giving Ruby the choice to accept the mission or not. My intention was to convey that Ozpin** _ **knew**_ **Ruby would never accept without consulting her friends, but upon re-reading it I noticed that didn't come across too well. So thank you for pointing that out! Now, without further ado, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Two: The Crow and the Rose**

When I woke up it was still dark outside. I guess I could've stayed in my bed and slept in, but I decided to get up. Dressing myself as quietly as I could, I made my way to the cafeteria to get an early breakfast. I was pretty sure my teammates would give me all sorts of grief about that decision, but at that moment I didn't care much.

I'm not really sure why I get like that sometimes. I really like my team, although all of them seem tailored to annoy me in some way. Yang's much too boisterous for my tastes. Sure, it's all part of her act of obfuscating stupidity, but she's doing an annoyingly good job at it a lot of the time.

Blake keeps to herself, but even though she's my friend, I worry about her past…although I guess I'm not really one to talk about keep one's past to oneself.

Then, of course, there's Ruby. Throughout the time I've known her she's influenced me most out of all of my teammates. She's so immature and naïve sometimes and her optimism honestly grinds my gears now and then…but there is something else to her. There's another person underneath that seemingly unending cheerfulness and immaturity. I've only really seen a very small part of it, back when she and I had just been partnered up in the Emerald Forest. She interrupted my attack on a Grimm, and I nearly hit her with it. When I told her I could have killed her, her reply was just, "You'll have to try a lot harder than that…"

The way she said that stuck with me ever since, and for the life of me I don't know why. Maybe the fact that she seems more enigmatic than even Blake gets to me. Maybe I'm just overthinking that moment. Maybe I'll never know. Not the most cheerful of ways to start up a Saturday morning, is it? Don't misunderstand me, though. I'm not depressed, or anything of the sort.

But on mornings like these, when everyone's still asleep and I'm in the big cafeteria all by myself, I get a bit philosophical. Ruby is just one of the subjects I mull over during such times. Another subject I often revisit is my family. My father is actually a rather kind man, but years of business have made him hard and cold. All the trouble the White Fang causes for him doesn't help his disposition much. Even before they became complete terrorists they sought to antagonize my family. Strikes and acts of sabotage were rife in the Dust mines and processing plants.

The worst part is that I agreed with them, back then. Much like Ruby is, or seems to be, now, I was once quite idealistic. What my father did to the Faunus workers didn't sit right with me, either, and I really did feel the White Fang was doing everything they could to protect their own. I never told him that, of course. It's not like he ever got violent. Not physically, anyway. But his anger, day in day out, made him very prone to snapping at my sister or me.

She always stood up for me whenever his anger was directed at me. I don't know how she managed to do that, but I'm eternally grateful for it. That was before the shift in White Fang policy, of course. When they became the monsters they are today, it was like my family had a target painted on them. So many people I knew died because of them. My sister became almost as hard and cold as my father, though she never got angry at me.

My musings were disturbed when someone else entered the cafeteria. Ruby. She gave me a happy wave and went to grab a tray of food before walking over and sitting down next to me.

"Morning, Weiss," she said with a big smile on her face. "You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought I'd get an early breakfast," I said. "What about you?"

Ruby grinned at me. "One of my teammates was gone, so I thought something might be wrong," she said. "So, Weiss, _is_ there something wrong?"

Her eyes seemed to look straight into my soul, but somehow she managed to look playful even when doing that. Aside from that, it surprised me that she was actually being responsible. She was really maturing into a good leader, and I must admit I felt quite proud of her because of it.

"No, I'm fine. Very attentive of you to ask, though."

Her smile got even wider than it already was at my compliment. Right now, there was no trace of that darker side of her that had been in my mind mere minutes earlier.

"Oh, by the way, do you have plans for this weekend?" Ruby asked me.

I shrugged. I honestly hadn't given it much thought yet, despite the fact we probably wouldn't be at Beacon for quite some time once we'd set off.

"I guess I'll just stay here and enjoy these last days of comfort," I said.

I was curious now, though. Ruby wouldn't ask something like that unless she already had something in mind. "Why? Are you planning something?"

Ruby nodded. "Yup. Yang and I are going to visit Dad and Uncle Qrow at Signal. We won't be seeing them for a while, so we wanted to say goodbye. Blake didn't want to come, but if you want to go we'll drag her as well so we can go as a team. Or do you want to visit your own family?"

I considered that for a moment. I had no intention of going to see my father, but it would feel a bit awkward to be dragged to meet Ruby and Yang's family.

"Zwei will be there as well," Ruby said slyly.

Damn her. Zwei is possibly the cutest creature I've ever seen in my life, and whenever I'm around him I devolve into speaking in gibberish. And Ruby _knows_ there's no way I'm missing a chance to see his wittle doggy face. Crap, it's already started.

"So you're coming?" she asked. Clearly my inner struggle was visible on my face. I sighed in resignation.

"Yes, I guess I am."

"Yes! Now I just need to convince Blake to come as well, but I'm sure Yang can help me with that."

With those words, Ruby jumped up out of her seat and ran out of the cafeteria.

"Hey! At least clean up your mess!" I yelled after her. I knew she wouldn't hear me, of course, but doing it somehow made me feel like I was doing the right thing. In the end, though, the end result was the same: I was going to be cleaning up Ruby's breakfast. Wonderful.

* * *

"We're almost there!"

I couldn't believe how excited Ruby was. She was bouncing up and down as the airship was slowly descending. I would never get this excited over going to see my family, except possibly Winter, and even then I'd be a bit more composed about it.

Still, seeing her like this made me smile a little. It was pretty cute. In the end, she'd been able to convince Blake to join this little excursion to Signal Academy, and the four of us had arranged transport there shortly after breakfast.

I don't think the pilot was very happy to have essentially been turned into a glorified bus driver, but Ruby's onslaught of reasons to go here and her big puppy dog eyes managed to convince him just the same. It made for a nice contrast to the way my father generally gets people to do what he wants: cold hard cash. I tried to imagine my father using Ruby's tactics and snorted loudly as I tried to suppress my laughter.

"Are you okay, Weiss?" Ruby asked. Her bubbly excitement had been replaced with concern so quickly I half thought she'd used her Semblance to do it.

Blushing lightly in embarrassment I straightened myself and said, "I'm fine, nothing to worry about."

Yang grinned slyly and said, "I think our Ice Queen actually thought of something funny just now. So tell us, Weiss, what were you thinking about?"

Getting even redder, I turned away from them and said, "It's nothing that concerns you."

Yang chuckled. She's so infuriating sometimes. She knows perfectly well I don't like this sort of attention...although admittedly it was my own fault for thinking such ridiculous things. I looked at Ruby, who seemed more relaxed now that she knew I was okay. It's strange how much she cares about me. Of course, she's like this with all of us, but every time she displays that caring side of hers, there's a strange flutter in my stomach.

A light jolt went through the airship when it touched down on the landing pad. Ruby immediately wanted to dash off, but Yang grabbed her hood before she could.

"Not so fast, little sis. We're all here together, so we're greeting them together."

Ruby pouted, but then she sighed and relented. The prospect of meeting Ruby's family made me feel oddly nervous. I've met so many people in my life I can hardly begin to count them and that never bothered me. Maybe it's because I never particularly cared about them, while this time I actually wanted them to like me. When did that happen?

My father has always said that a Schnee shouldn't care about what others think, since we are so far above them. I always suspected he said that as much to himself as he said it to me, but I spent my life trying to live that way just the same. After only a year with my friends, though, I've apparently changed so much that it suddenly matters to me what complete strangers think. I took deep breaths as we walked down the ramp.

"Nervous?" Yang asked me with an aside glance.

"Not really," I lied a bit too quickly.

To my surprise Yang's smile wasn't mocking but kind. "Don't worry. Our family's great. They'll like you," she said with a wink.

With my worries partially cleared up we walked towards the end of the docking platform, where two people and a small dog were waiting for us. I saw Blake giving the dog an apprehensive look and felt a bit sorry for her. Being a cat Faunus around a dog was probably not much fun. I moved in front of her and whispered, "I'll keep him away from you."

"Thanks."

There was so much gratitude in her voice it almost sounded like she'd been given a pardon from execution. Ever since becoming a part of Team RWBY I'd learned just how much difference small things can make in life. I wasn't going to tell them, but right at that moment there was nowhere I'd rather be.

We approached the two men and as soon as we got close, Ruby ran forward to meet them.

"Dad, Uncle Qrow! It's so good to see you! And you too, Zwei," she added when her dog barked at her.

One of the men, who had blonde hair like Yang's, drew Ruby into a hug that, by the looks of it, had enough force to crush a diamond.

"Your father?" I asked Yang, as we approached as well.

"Yup," she said proudly. "See the family resemblance?"

I smiled. "I see where you get your strength from, that's for sure."

The other man, who had black hair and had to be Qrow, laughed at Ruby's futile attempts to get out of her father's bear hug, but then he said, "Alright, Taiyang. She needs to be alive for her mission."

Taiyang grinned sheepishly and let his daughter go. Ruby took a few extremely deep breaths and Taiyang now focused his attention on Yang. He drew her into a crushing embrace as well, but she was strong enough to actually return the favor. Blake and I shot each other uncertain glances. Neither of us was used to this unique style of greeting, and judging by her apprehensive look she was just as reluctant to get crushed as I was.

Ruby, meanwhile, was talking to her uncle. "I've upgraded Crescent Rose, look!"

She expanded her scythe and began to rattle about high-caliber bullets and a new recoil regulating system. It meant nothing to me, but Qrow was listening to her with a very focused and proud look on his face.

That look vanished, however, when he laid his eyes on me. He raised his hand to silence Ruby and walked over to me.

"You're a Schnee, aren't you?" he asked.

The loathing in his voice was obvious, and I sighed inwardly. So much for making a good first impression. Once again, my family's name preceded me. Despite my inner conflict I showed no outward signs of distress, courtesy of lifelong training, and said, "Yes. I'm Weiss Schnee. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Qrow."

Qrow scoffed. "Save me the pleasantries. I don't like your family and that's not about to change anytime soon."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. It wasn't a question, and the phrasing made coming up with a reply very difficult. My teammates, especially Ruby and Yang, were speechless. A glance at their faces told me that neither of them had expected this kind of welcome.

"Cat got your tongue?" Qrow mocked.

Blake's bow twitched at that remark. "Oh, sorry," Qrow said. "I didn't mean to insult you, miss," he said to Blake.

Her eyes widened in confusion. "How did you…?"

Qrow smirked and pointed at her bow. "No wind, but it moved."

Blake could only stare at him disbelievingly. Sure, the twitch of her bow had betrayed her heritage, but it was such a small movement most people wouldn't have seen it. I only noticed it because I knew what to look for.

Qrow looked at me again, this time with an expression that was more intrigued than hostile. "Since you didn't react to me revealing your friend here as a Faunus I take it you knew?"

I nodded. "Of course," I said a little more sharply than I'd intended. He might be Ruby's family, but he was incredibly rude.

"I thought you Schnee hated Faunus."

Okay, I've officially had it. Whether he's Ruby's uncle or the emperor of the universe, no one speaks to me in such a condescending manner.

"We're not all the same, although we do have a very low tolerance for asinine remarks from people we've never even met," I said angrily.

Silently I was hoping he'd get angry enough to get violent. To my utter surprise, though, Qrow reacted to my words by bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny?!" I demanded.

Qrow stopped laughing and looked at me, still wearing a huge grin, the kind that Yang would describe as a shit-eating grin. Oh, how I wanted to wipe it off his face.

"Well?!"

I was clenching and unclenching my fists now. It wasn't like me, to get so worked up, but my nerves and anger had mixed to form a very volatile mixture.

"You're definitely not like your family, that's for sure," Qrow said.

That explained absolutely nothing, so it did equally much to lighten my mood. "What the hell is that even supposed to mean?!"

Usually when I'm angry I get colder, but right now I was just white-hot.

"Weiss…" Ruby said softly.

"Not now, Ruby. This is between me and him," I said, without taking my eyes off Qrow. "You've never even met me before today, and yet you presume to know me because of my name, and then you suddenly declare I'm different from my family and that _amuses you_?!"

Qrow was still smirking when that outburst ended. "Yes," he replied, still refusing to be helpful.

I was just about to tell him off again, but Taiyang stepped in. "Qrow, enough. I'd appreciate it if you could show some courtesy to Ruby and Yang's friends."

Qrow shot him a glance and his smirk disappeared. Then he sighed. "Fine."

He turned back to me. His red eyes looked into my blue ones. "I'm sorry for the hostility," he said eventually. "It's just that I have had some…rather unpleasant dealings with your family before."

"You wouldn't be the first," I muttered. I was still angry, but not enough to reopen the hostilities. A silence fell over our group.

"So…who's up for lunch?" Ruby asked with a shaky smile. Yang and Blake immediately agreed, and Taiyang wasn't far behind. They all looked expectantly at Qrow and me.

I sighed. "Sure," I said. "But I'm not sitting next to him," I added with a glance at Qrow.

* * *

Lunch, fortunately, passed without incident. Qrow and I were seated at diagonally opposed corners, so were as far apart as we possibly could be, and because of that we could actually hold a decent conversation during the meal.

Both Taiyang and Qrow were teachers at Signal, and when they themselves had been in training they'd been on the same team. Qrow wasn't Taiyang's brother, but rather Raven's, who was Yang's mother but not Ruby's. That explained their different last names, at least, since Ruby had her mother's name while Yang had the same name as her father.

Ruby and Yang told Taiyang and Qrow all about the missions we'd done together as a team, including our encounters with Torchwick and the White Fang. The only thing they omitted was Blake's history as a member, for which she was very grateful, judging by her expression. Blake and I chimed in from time to time to tell our own contributions. Every time we did, I noticed Qrow paying just a little more attention to the conversation. He was clearly trying to find something out, and that was bothering me.

It was easy to see how much Ruby idolized him, though. She just kept discussing weapons with him as though nothing had happened earlier. Taiyang saw me looking at them and leaned across the table.

"Qrow taught Ruby how to fight. He's just as much of a weapon nut as she is, and probably the best scythe wielder in the world," he said.

I nodded slowly, but I wasn't feeling any more comfortable. How could Ruby, easily the kindest person I know, get along so well with that rude vulgarian? Taiyang clearly noticed my feelings, because he went on, "Qrow's not a bad man, really. He's just been through a lot."

"That's no excuse," I huffed.

"No," Taiyang agreed earnestly, "It isn't."

He fell silent after that, and I kept looking at Qrow's animated conversation with Ruby with a frown.

* * *

After lunch, we intended to go explore Patch, but before we did I had something to sort out. I walked over to Qrow and said, "We need to talk."

He raised an eyebrow, but he nodded his affirmation anyway. He turned to Taiyang.

"You guys go ahead. We'll catch up later. Don't worry," he added when he saw Ruby's concerned look, "We'll keep it civil this time."

It caught me off guard to hear him say that, and it actually annoyed me quite badly. The way he said seemed to imply that _I_ had been the cause of the problems last time. I bit my scathing remarks back, however, and simply nodded in agreement. When the others had moved out of earshot, I turned to Qrow.

"I want to know what your problem is," I said bluntly.

"Your family is my problem," Qrow replied equally bluntly.

Again I had to bite my tongue not to snap at him.

"The things my family does have nothing to do with me as a person," I said stonily.

"No, they don't," Qrow agreed. "Besides, you're different from them."

Again with that line. "What do you mean by that?" It took all my control to keep my voice neutral.

"Not that, that's for sure," he replied.

Oh, for the love of… "Don't give me that nonsense again!" I exploded. Staying civil had gone out the window.

" _That's_ what I'm talking about," Qrow said.

"What is?! All you're doing is talking in circles!" I yelled at him. People were turning their heads to look at me, but I didn't care. "Why can't you just give me a straight answer for once?"

Qrow nodded. "Alright. You're different from your family because unlike them, you're not stone cold. You're just as fiery as Yang and Ruby, even. Every other Schnee I've ever dealt with remained cold and collected. Not even passive aggressive remarks, nothing. No emotions. You, though, wanted to slug me one and that bloodthirst was almost solid. I respect that, although I can imagine you might not see it that way," he said.

It took me a moment to process that. I was different because I showed emotions? I wanted to argue with him, because I'd seen my father furious so often it was all but his normal state of being. But then I realized that he only ever showed that side of him at home. In business, no matter with whom, he never showed anger, or joy, or anything else. His mask of indifference was absolute. No matter what happened before his eyes, he would not respond to it.

I, on the other hand, had always gone for snide remarks at every opportunity. Reflecting on it, I realized that I was indeed the only one in my family to do so. Unlike my off-center ponytail which was my small resistance against the rigid life my family wanted for me and which was something I did on purpose, my attitude had actually been a subconscious way of rebelling against my parents.

Despite my annoyance, I smiled. It's not every day you learn something new about yourself from an insufferable brute.

"Why are you smiling?" Qrow asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I have my reasons," I told him, taking some warped pleasure in leaving him in the dark for once, however small this might be.

"You think it's funny you're nothing like your family?"

I shrugged. "Who knows what I'm thinking? It's certainly none of your business," I said sweetly. Oh yes, I can be petty when I want to be.

Qrow stared at me for a moment, then he burst out laughing. "I think you and I will get along just fine, little Miss Schnee," he said, holding out his hand.

I smirked at him and extended mine as well. "Just Weiss will do," I said. "And please don't call me little. I'm still considering punching you for the insolence earlier," I added.

Qrow's grin widened. "Fine with me. Now, let's go find those other idiots, shall we? They might get eaten by a Beowolf if we aren't there to protect them."

Shaking my head at Qrow's warped sense of humor, I followed him outside.

* * *

Patch was a rather forested island, with an even higher concentration of Grimm than the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall Forest in Vale. As we walked, I could hear the noises of hungry Grimm all around me. I had my hand on Myrtenaster's hilt in case we suddenly came under attack, but Qrow didn't seem to care at all.

"Nervous?" he asked me.

I scoffed. "Cautious, yes," I corrected him. I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of thinking I was afraid.

Qrow made a derisive sound. "Even that would give these Grimm too much credit." He looked at me. "The Grimm on this island aren't like the ones you may have seen on the mainland. They're much more numerous, yes, but also incredibly weak. Ruby could slice an entire pack of them to ribbons when she was thirteen…although she did have a great teacher," he finished with a proud look.

"Oh, so _you_ were the one who taught her that reckless style. I should've guessed that would be your influence," I said mockingly.

In truth, I admired Ruby's fighting style. The way she moves while twirling that massive scythe…yes, it looks incredibly inefficient and wasteful, but it's undeniably mesmerizing to behold. There was no way, though, that I would give a compliment to Qrow. Though we buried the hatchet I was still not going to stroke his ego.

"You know nothing about art…" Qrow muttered angrily.

"Excuse me? I have studied the exquisite art of fencing, thank you very much," I said indignantly.

"Heh, so you can stab with what amounts to a little needle. Big deal," Qrow retorted.

"Fencing is an elegant and noble art. I wouldn't expect you to understand it," I said flippantly.

Although my words might suggest otherwise, I was actually enjoying the banter. Trading insults like this seemed to take the edge off all the Grimm noises around us. Weak or not, so many Grimm would have to be dangerous. Qrow's claim that Ruby could fight off an entire horde of these at thirteen was one I took with an enormous pile of salt. After all, the man seemed to love boasting about the skills he imparted upon her.

"Okay, then let me ask you this. Do you have the same utterly retarded on guard position your sister has? Because that…what is it, prime, quarte, in quartata, even? Whatever it is, it hardly looks like a closed line. Why not just a sixte line like anyone with a brain? Those other moves are brilliant counters but honestly, who leads with them?"

My mouth fell open. I don't know what surprised me more, the fact that this brute knew the fencing lines or the fact the he knew my sister's, and by extension my, style. The truth was that I didn't know the answer to it. When I was younger I _did_ actually use the sixte line, but since my sister didn't and I idolized her, I began to emulate her stance, using my Semblance to increase my speed, and my Dust to make the blade actions themselves less important.

Qrow chuckled. "No worries. I'm not one to talk about defense considering the momentum of my scythe. Grimm are generally too stupid to do it, but if a human opponent interrupts a combo attack, well, I might actually be in trouble…of course at that point I'd likely just shoot them because in a fight between life and death, honor comes last."

That remark troubled me, but I knew he was right. I'd prefer to fight fair and head on, but if the situation called for it I would fall back to dirty tactics to save my life, I was quite certain of that.

"Oh, look at that. I think we've found the others," Qrow said with a gesture of his head.

Slightly ahead of us and surrounded by decaying Grimm, were my friends and Taiyang. Several more Grimm were attacking them from between the trees, but something was strange. They lacked the distinctive white masks and bony spikes regular Grimm had. These looked more like bipedal wolves, with glowing red eyes and red teeth.

"What's with those Grimm?"

"Like I said, these Grimm are very numerous but very weak. They're young, you might even call them newborns. We still don't know why there are so many here…that's one of the things you might want to look into on your 'mission'," Qrow said.

"How do you…?"

"Later. Now, we have some Beowolves to slay."

I nodded. Qrow was right. Questions could wait until later. I drew Myrtenaster and assumed my battle stance, a little self-conscious as I turned inward with my palm facing me, but I wasn't about to change my entire style over one remark. Without further ado, I launched myself at the Grimm.

* * *

"Finally, I thought we'd never get through them," Yang said, lazily stretching out. We'd slaughtered an amazing number of Grimm, and though I found it hard to believe it had been exceptionally boring. Without their bony armor we'd cut through the Beowolves like butter, and they'd even seemed quite slow and weak as well.

"Why are we here in the middle of these Grimm infested woods anyway?" I asked.

"We're going to visit my Mom," Ruby said softly.

I didn't respond immediately, but now I felt like a complete jerk for asking. Ruby didn't say much about her mother usually, and all I knew was that she had died on a mission many years ago when Ruby was still little. Ruby, however, didn't seem sad at all.

"I know it's stupid, but I think she'd like to meet all of you. Besides, the view from the cliff is amazing," she said.

It stung a little to hear Ruby say 'I know it's stupid', because I was quite certain she said that to prevent me from commenting on it. I know I'm not the most sensitive of people sometimes, but I'm not _that_ callous.

We began walking again, and I guess I still looked a little hurt, because Ruby came up to me and asked, "Are you okay, Weiss?"

I nodded and managed a small smile, and replied, "I'm fine."

I didn't even convince myself with that, and quite frankly I didn't even really know why it had bothered me so much. "It's just…I don't think it's stupid you want us to meet your Mom," I said, softly enough that no one else could hear me. "And…well…"

I didn't dare to finish my sentence. Why? Why do I have such difficulty admitting to any emotion aside from anger?

Ruby touched my arm and I looked into her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Weiss. I'm sorry," she said, giving my arm a small squeeze.

Sometimes Ruby really amazes me. She seems so dense and naïve, but she picks up things like this faster than I've ever seen someone do.

I shook my head, "It's not your fault." My faint smile became slightly rueful when I said, "I guess I'm just an Ice Queen."

Now it was Ruby's turn to shake her head. "You're not. You've changed, we both have. And I think it was for the better for both of us."

She let go of my arm and gestured ahead. The trees began to thin out and I thought I could see beyond them now.

"We're almost there," Ruby said, now addressing the whole group, but mostly Blake and me since the others were obviously familiar with the area.

As we passed the last trees, I gasped in amazement at the scenery. A part of the cliff extended into a point well into the ocean. At the very tip, I spotted a headstone. Silently, we walked over to it. When I got close enough I could read the inscription. _'Summer Rose. Thus kindly I scatter.'_

"Hey Mom," Ruby said. "I'm not alone today. I brought Yang, and Dad, and Uncle Qrow...and I'd like you to meet my teammates, Weiss and Blake."

She gestured at Blake and me, and I bowed my head slightly in the direction of the headstone. For some reason that felt like the right thing to do.

"I won't be able to talk to you for a while," Ruby said. "My teammates and I are going on an important mission and we'll probably be away from the kingdom for a long time."

She turned around and looked at Blake and me. "I, um, since you've never been here before…why don't you introduce yourselves?"

Blake hesitated for a moment, so I stepped forward first. I walked over to the headstone and knelt down, placing my hand on top of it.

"I'm Weiss Schnee, and I'm Ruby's partner at Beacon. I'll make sure to keep her safe while we're away, so please don't worry about her. She's in good hands," I said.

I got up, bowed my head once again and turned around…but I couldn't take a single step before Ruby had wrapped her arms around me.

"Thank you," she whispered, and I could hear she was on the verge of tears. I awkwardly held her for a moment. She smelled like roses, and I felt my heartbeat go up slightly. She let me go and smiled, wiping her eyes with one finger as I stepped farther back, and Blake walked up to the headstone.

I couldn't make out what she said, but Ruby hugged her afterwards as well. Something within me stirred at the sight, but I couldn't quite place it.

Yang leaned in close. "I didn't hear what you said, but Ruby doesn't get teary-eyed easily. I'm impressed," she said.

"Didn't Blake do the same?" I asked.

Yang shook her head. "Look closer."

I did, and I saw that she was right. While Ruby _did_ hug Blake, her eyes were dry this time. For some reason that made me feel slightly triumphant. What was with me today? So many foreign emotions in such a short time, something was going on with me and I was going to find out what it was.

It wasn't going to happen now, however. Ruby said her goodbyes to her mother and walked back towards the main group. I found it kind of odd that Taiyang hadn't gone over to the headstone, but perhaps he came here more often. I decided that when we got back from our mission, I'd come back here, just to tell Ruby's mother that I had kept my promise. For some reason I considered the opinion of this one dead person more important than those of most living people. I must be going nuts.

Thinking about the mission reminded me of something else, however, and I turned to Qrow. "You said earlier you knew about our mission. How do you know?" I asked him.

Qrow seemed to consider the question for a moment, but when Taiyang gave him a small nod, he relented. He gestured for everyone else to come closer and began talking. "I've been working with Professor Ozpin for quite some time, to discover what forces are working against the peace we've been living in since the Great War. I have been supplying him with information, and he, in turn entrusted you with the mission to act on that info."

He grinned at Ruby.

"I'm incredibly proud of you and your friends that you are willing to forego the Vytal Festival to protect this world. That attitude alone makes you great Huntresses." He looked at me in particular now. "I will admit I wasn't happy when I found out that a Schnee was going on this mission because of my own experiences with them, but throughout this day you have proven that you are loyal to your friends and a capable fighter. So, without jokes this time, I'm sorry for the grief I've been giving you, but I wanted to know for absolute certain my nieces would be in good hands."

I wasn't sure how to react, because my mind was still reeling from his earlier revelation about working with Ozpin, so I merely said, "Thank you."

Qrow now faced Blake. "I may not have interacted with you as much as I did with Weiss, here, but that's because I already knew who you were. The White Fang, before they turned into the mockery they are now, were good people. The moment I saw you I knew. It pains me to tell you this, but your partner Adam is involved very deeply in all of this."

Blake's expression hardened. "I know. It's precisely because of that that I left." A small crack appeared in her façade when she continued. "Although I still hope that he can be made to see that what he and the others are doing isn't the right way."

Qrow looked at her solemnly, but then he nodded. "I hope your endeavor will not be in vain," he said.

He looked at the sky. "We should start heading back to Signal. When it gets dark the Grimm come out in even greater numbers, and I'm assuming you'll want to get back to Beacon at a reasonable time. You should use tomorrow to rest up, because if there's one thing I've learned in the field it's that restful sleep will be hard to come by."

Without further ado, he turned around and began walking back. I glanced at my teammates, my friends, and I saw in their eyes that they had the same resolve I did. No one was going to break the peace in Remnant, not while we could help it.

 **And there we are, at the end of a long chapter. Just a bit of background info, I included the small bit about fencing lines because I'm a fencer myself and while Weiss's style looks awesome, it's really a pretty awkward stance to be in, and I honestly don't know which line it resembles most. If I had to choose I would probably go with in quartata, which isn't so much an on guard line but rather a sort of counter whereby one twists one's body out of the way, while deflecting the opponent's blade and essentially making them run onto yours, one that I very much like to use. It doesn't quite fit the bill, but then neither do prime or quarte…oh well, Rule of Cool, I guess. Anyway, see you next time!**


	3. Into the Wild

**Many, many apologies for the delay in this chapter. Stuff came up in real life, and I didn't give this story the attention it deserved for far too long. Now, though, I'm back. I intend to pick up the slack, because I have more than enough ideas for this one. Thanks for your patience, and don't forget to R &R! Now, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter Three: Into the Wild**

Monday morning. Not really my favorite moment of the week, normally. Today, though, I was filled with energy. Yesterday we'd spent all day preparing for our long trip into the world outside the kingdoms. Unlike last time, when we went to Mountain Glenn for only a short time, this time we'd go in carrying more equipment because we'd be out there for much longer. We'd need to maintain our weapons, for one thing, and let me tell you that Crescent Rose isn't the easiest weapon to maintain.

You might say, _'Well, Ruby, that's your own fault for making a high impact sniper scythe,'_ but you can't deny that she's just about _the_ most awesome weapon ever seen by human eyes. I'm thinking Weiss would scold me for not being modest enough, but she's just jealous she didn't come up with it.

Then again, Myrtenaster certainly fits her. It's sleek and regal, but it has a nasty sting. As Weiss puts it, _'Myrtenaster is an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.'_

I'm pretty sure there's an insult hidden in there somewhere but I'm not the kind of person to go looking for things to get angry over. I like to see the good side of people, even if that side is hidden behind a nasty look. With some people it's easier than with others. When I'd just met Weiss I once told her I hated her because she was just being really annoying. But even back then, I knew she wasn't a bad person. I still wanted her to like me, despite what I said. Is it weird to still feel guilty over something I did so long ago?

She's really changed a lot since then, but I guess that goes for all of us. I quickly scanned around the dorm room to see if I'd forgotten to pack anything vital, but by the looks of it I didn't. I swung my backpack onto my back and looked at the others.

"Everyone ready to go?" I asked, raising my fist into the air.

Yang cracked her knuckles and said, "Hell yeah!"

Blake nodded once. I think that's about the height of enthusiasm for her when it comes to missions.

"I'm ready," Weiss said. Something seemed to be different in her. She seemed somehow more determined than usual. It's hard to explain because she's always focused and serious for a mission, but this time she seemed to have a sense of purpose she usually doesn't have. Maybe it was just because this mission was so much bigger than anything we'd done before, though. Oh well, whatever the reason of Weiss's determination was, we were ready.

* * *

Dr. Oobleck was waiting for us at the airship docking pad. He was dressed in the same safari-like gear from last time. I wonder if anyone's ever told him he looks kind of dorky like that. It wasn't like I was going to ask him, though. Despite his, um, strange looks he was a very powerful and smart Huntsman. I was honestly glad that he would be the one to come with us on this mission.

"Good morning, Dr. Oobleck," I said happily as we approached him.

"Good morning ladies, good to see you. Once you're all aboard we'll depart immediately. I'll brief you on our first destination once we're airborne," he said.

I swear he talks faster with every word he says. My theory is that he wants to fit every word he'll ever need to say into a single sound at some point.

"Something wrong, Miss Rose?" he asked.

Whoops, I was probably staring again. "No, nothing," I said quickly.

We boarded the airship and lifted off almost immediately. Once we were well clear of Beacon, Dr. Oobleck called us closer.

"Given the real goal of this mission, we're going to start our search to the northeast of Vale," he began. "We know from our source…"

"My uncle Qrow," I interrupted.

Dr. Oobleck gave me a blank stare and Weiss hissed, "He knows that, you dolt."

I smiled sheepishly and allowed Dr. Oobleck to continue. "We know from Qrow," he said, looking pointedly at me, "That an old White Fang hideout is located in the plains there. Fortunately for us, an outpost was built nearby to facilitate missions in the area. It'll be sparsely equipped but it will provide us with a roof over our heads for at least a few nights. Since there is generally little human activity in that particular area, the concentration of Grimm will be relatively low."

Blake frowned. "I don't want to sound rude, or anything, but the hideout you're referring to was abandoned long ago," she said.

Dr. Oobleck seemed completely unconcerned with that news, since he smiled in response. "There are signs it's been active again. It's not much of a lead, but perhaps we can find out more within," he said.

"If you say so," Blake said hesitantly.

"Don't worry, Miss Belladonna. We've never received false information to date. I'm sure this time will be no different," Dr. Oobleck said reassuringly.

I understood why Blake was hesitant to believe Dr. Oobleck. She'd been a member of the White Fang for years, so if anyone would know which of their hideouts were abandoned it would be her. Then again, I had no doubt that at least Headmaster Ozpin knew about Blake's history.

"The White Fang have done stranger things since you left them, Blake," I said softly. "Like working together with Torchwick."

Blake gave me a pained look. "That's exactly why I'm worried," she replied. "This hideout was abandoned _because_ its location was discovered. I can't help but feeling we're heading into either a trap or a false trail."

Well, when she put it like that it certainly sounded more like a problem. I looked at Dr. Oobleck again, who still seemed to be in a very good mood. Now, I'm not always the brightest person around, especially when it comes to dealing with people, but I knew that Dr. Oobleck would never lead us on a false trail.

I looked at Blake again and said, "Don't worry. I think Dr. Oobleck knows what he's doing. Let's just trust him."

Blake still didn't look happy, but she seemed to accept that we were going to do this. I just hoped my trust in Dr. Oobleck would pay off.

* * *

The grass around us was long, longer than I'd ever seen it within Vale's borders. It was a pale yellow and lazily blew in the breeze. Not too far away from us was a single tree that looked very old and weathered. Only a few leaves grew on the old branches. I didn't feel any Grimm around us, but that didn't say much. Sensing the presence of Grimm using my Aura was a trick I never really got the hang of. I generally rely on my regular old senses when I'm fighting them.

I could tell the others weren't much more comfortable than I was. I turned to Blake. Having four ears, I figured she would be the first person to hear Grimm if they were around.

"Anything here?" I asked her, keeping my voice down in case Grimm were around us. Blake shook her head.

"Not that I can tell. They have no reason to be here, anyway," she replied.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Grimm don't scare me in the slightest, but being ambushed isn't a lot of fun. Last time it happened an Ursa tore a hole in my combat skirt. It was even a new one. Needless to say that particular Ursa never made that mistake again. Dr. Oobleck brought me back to the present.

"Alright, ladies. The outpost is about an hour's walk from here. We should head there as fast as possible so we can set up a temporary base of operations," he said.

"An hour's walk? Why didn't the pilot just drop us off there?" Yang asked in a slightly annoyed voice. Yang's dangerous when she gets annoyed, so I hoped for Dr. Oobleck's sake he had a good answer.

"Regular traffic to and from the outpost might attract Grimm to it," Dr. Oobleck said. "Whenever teams of Huntsmen need to use it, they're dropped off within a radius of the outpost, in a different spot each time. Humans would correlate that data and figure out the center of the circle, but Grimm aren't the world's greatest thinkers," he went on.

"A sound decision," Weiss commented. I think Weiss was the only one of us to actually listen to the second part of Dr. Oobleck's explanation, probably because it contained the word 'correlate'.

We began walking through the long, yellowed grass. To stave off the boredom, I began to hum a tune from a movie I'd seen long ago.

"You realize half the group was killed in long grass when they played that tune, right?" Weiss said after a moment.

I stopped humming, more out of surprise that Weiss even knew that movie than anything else. "Weiss, I never knew you liked movies," I said with wide eyes.

Weiss put on the rich girl look I knew so well. "There is quite a bit you don't know about me, Ruby Rose," she said, trying her best to sound all fancy.

I giggled. Weiss is adorable when she does that, especially when she's so obviously not serious. "Ooh, aren't you mysterious?" I teased her.

"Well, if you're such a movie freak, then what's this?" I began to hum a different tune, this time from a movie about a magical ring.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Are you even trying? I think pretty much everyone in the entirety of Remnant has seen that one," she said. I considered that. The trilogy had indeed been immensely popular.

"Okay, then how about…um…" I trailed off as I tried to think of another movie. Not that I didn't know any other movies, I just wanted to challenge myself by sticking to a general theme of open fields and long, perilous journeys.

Before I could come up with anything, though, Weiss began humming a tune herself. For a moment I was mesmerized by just how beautiful her voice sounded even when she was just humming, but then I recognized the tune.

"That's that pirate movie, right?" I asked her.

Weiss smiled. Now, Weiss has two different smiles. A real one, and a mocking one. Right now, she was using her real one.

"Correct," she said. She was still trying to sound all stiff and Schnee-y, but I could tell she was having fun.

"Okay, my turn," I said.

Weiss, however, had other plans. "You just got two tries in a row, wait your turn," she said in the tone she'd usually use when she was trying to correct my behavior.

I grinned. I don't know why Weiss seemed to be in such a good mood, but it made me feel all giddy inside to see her like this.

"Okay, then please take your turn, Miss Schnee," I said formally.

For a split second, Weiss's smile froze, but just as quickly it had disappeared again.

"Well, at least you learn quickly," Weiss said smugly. "Now…let's see…Oh, I know," she went on.

She began to hum a tune from a movie I'd seen a million times as a kid, and yet she still had the nerve to say _I_ was using melodies from movies everyone knew.

"That's cheating; you're humming a real song," I said. I held up my hand before Weiss could protest. "But I know that movie. I've seen it so many times. I don't think I ever cried as much with any other movie too, when his father died."

I paused for a moment. I wasn't sure whether or not to say what was on my mind at that moment. Weiss seemed to realize something was up, because she said, "Ruby? Is something wrong?"

I looked into her eyes and saw the same genuine concern in them as I'd seen back on Patch. "Well, that movie helped me deal with my mother's death," I said softly.

Weiss didn't reply immediately. Now she appeared to be the one struggling with something. "Weiss?" I asked.

"It…well, let's just say it means a lot to me as well," she said. Before I could press the issue, she firmly said, "And now it's your turn again, I'm waiting."

I pushed Weiss's momentarily frozen smile and hesitation just now to the back of my mind, and tried to come up with more movie themes to hum.

* * *

The trip to the outpost went surprisingly quickly because of the little game Weiss and me had been playing on the way there. The outpost itself was a small wooden building that looked like it had seen better days.

Yang got a dark look on her face when she saw it. I guess she was thinking about the time she'd gone off to find her mother, with me in a wagon. I couldn't remember much of that event, but I knew from what she'd told me it had involved some old wooden building.

Dr. Oobleck seemed oblivious to Yang's look. "This will be our base of operations until we've searched through the White Fang base nearby. We'll have a quick lunch and then we need to be on our way. We don't want to waste any daylight," he said.

He dug up a rusty keychain from his pocket and jammed the key into the equally rusty lock. He fiddled around with it for a bit, until the lock finally turned with a lot of grinding and creaking. The door swung open, and it evidently didn't want to lose out in the 'loud old stuff' contest because the sound it made was roughly equal to the sound Uncle Qrow had once made when he was drunk and attempted to sing.

We stepped inside, and my first impression was that no human life had been in that outpost for quite some time. I hadn't thought it was possible, but it was dustier in here than in Dr. Oobleck's classroom. There was a small stove on one side of the building, and four bunk beds that looked more dangerous than our contraptions back at Beacon were put up on the other side of the hut. There was no sign of a bathroom of any kind, or any other rooms beyond this one.

On my second look around, I noticed a small table near the far wall, with eight wooden chairs in various states of disrepair clustered around it. In no universe known to man could eight people ever fit at that table, even if they were as thin as Weiss. One single oil lamp hung from the ceiling. I wasn't sure how much light it would give, but I was quite sure the entire hut would go up in flames if anyone were mad enough to turn that oil lamp on.

Dr. Oobleck headed inside and immediately lit up the wick of the oil lamp. The flame was positively tiny, and the room didn't seem any brighter than a moment before. It really didn't help that all the windows were boarded up. Well, at least the hut hadn't burst into flame…yet.

Dr. Oobleck turned around to face us. "Well, ladies, welcome to our accommodations. I assure you, the beds may seem uncomfortable at first but they'll do wonders for your spine. Now, I'll prepare lunch; why don't you put down your bags and take some necessities for our excursion."

Giving each other uncertain glances, we crossed the room and headed for the bunk beds. We didn't speak, but we instantly arranged our stuff in the same order we used at Beacon. Weiss and I shared the left bunk bed on the far wall, and Blake and Yang the right one. That left the two beds closest to the front door for Dr. Oobleck. Weiss sat down on her bed, and I sat down next to her. Blake and Yang sat down across from us.

"So, is anyone else a bit…underwhelmed by this hovel?" Yang asked softly.

"That's putting it mildly," Weiss said in agreement.

I shrugged. "Look on the bright side, at least we have beds," I said.

I was determined to make the best of the situation. Weiss gave me a sour look and knocked on the mattress with her fist. It sounded like she was knocking on a rock.

"Well…you heard Dr. Oobleck: it does wonders for your spine," I offered with a smile.

"I don't see the problem," Blake said casually, leaning back on the bed.

"Yeah, well, you're a cat," Yang said. "Your spine is probably supple as coiled steel anyway."

"Don't be hating," Blake replied with a grin.

Yang sighed. "You've been around Sun too much," she groaned.

"Ladies, lunch is ready," Dr. Oobleck announced from the small stove. How he'd managed to make anything on that little thing amazed me.

We headed over to the small table, and each chose a chair we hoped wouldn't fall apart on our first touch. Dr. Oobleck put a tray full of…well, I guess they were sandwiches…in front of us.

"Is the layer of charcoal on them…intentional?" I asked uncertainly.

"Why, most certainly," Dr. Oobleck replied. "These sandwiches were designed to be heated by being applied directly to the fire. I'm quite sure of that, anyway. Or maybe those were in my other bag. Oh well, eat up, we don't have much time."

With a look at my teammates, I sighed and picked up a sandwich. Despite being charred, it was cold. That didn't improve the bad feeling I had about it. I took a bite from the sandwich and braced myself for the taste…but quite honestly it wasn't that bad. I mean, I tasted the charred bread, but I could also more or less taste the contents of the sandwich through the bitter charcoal. It certainly wasn't as bad as the time I made pancakes and watched a movie while waiting for them to be done.

I gave my friends the thumbs-up and they too picked up a sandwich. Weiss stuffed it down as fast as she could, gulping water after every bite. Blake kept her face carefully neutral, but I saw a small twitch near her eye which let me know she was suffering. Yang ate the sandwich quite cheerfully. She too had suffered my fateful pancakes. I'd always known that one day they'd be good for something. Dr. Oobleck, meanwhile, scoffed down one sandwich after the other.

When we were all done eating (I'd eaten two sandwiches, Yang three, but Weiss and Blake had stuck to just the one) we headed back outside. The sun hurt my eyes for a moment after the darkness in the hut, but the fresh air was incredibly welcome.

"Now, if I'm not mistaken the entrance to the hideout is roughly thirty minutes in that direction. Let's move," Dr. Oobleck said, and he immediately began to walk.

I walked up to Weiss, who seemed paler than usual. "Want to play our game again?" I asked her.

She shook her head, something which made her go even paler. "Can't talk. Sandwich will…"

She stopped talking and clasped her hand in front of her mouth. I guess Weiss, being from a rich family, wasn't used to food of this 'quality'.

I rubbed her back as we walked, and soon Weiss seemed to calm down a bit.

"Better?" I asked her.

"A bit," she replied with a shaky smile. "Thanks, Ruby," she said softly.

I gave her a wide smile in return. "That's what friends are for," I said happily.

* * *

After some walking, we reached a tree similar to the one I'd seen when we had just landed on the plains. Dr. Oobleck stopped walking and looked around. "The information said the entrance should be near the tree," he said.

Blake stepped forward and said, "Go past the tree in the direction its branches are pointing until you get to a boulder which is barely visible over the grass. There's a smaller rock on the ground which acts a button to open the hatch."

"Splendid. It helps to have someone 'in the know' with us," Dr. Oobleck said, and without further ado he turned around and began to walk.

Blake was now clenching and unclenching her fists. "It'll be okay, Blake. We're going to stop them," I told her.

"Yeah, no sweat," Yang chimed in. "And if we run into that insufferable cu…"

"I've found the entrance," Dr. Oobleck's voice came over Yang's curse. We walked over to him, as he stood next to a rather wide, but low boulder with a smaller rock next to it. "I take it this is the one, Miss Belladonna?" he asked. Blake nodded wordlessly.

Dr. Oobleck knelt down and pressed the rock, which clicked into to ground a small bit. There was a lot of whirring and buzzing as the door mechanism began to work, but after a short moment the large boulder swung back, revealing a staircase that descended deep into the earth.

I looked at my friends. "Let's go."

Without waiting for a reply, I began descending the stairs.

 **What will they find at the bottom of the staircase? Will the White Fang be waiting for them? Will their first lead turn out to be a dud? You'll find out in the next chapter, when the plot really begins to kick in.**

 **Oh, and the tunes Ruby and Weiss were humming were Don't Go Into The Long Grass from The Lost World, the main theme of Lord of the Rings, the main theme of Pirates of the Caribbean, and Can You Feel The Love Tonight from Lion King. Anyway, please leave a review if you've come this far, and hopefully see you next time!**


	4. Monochrome Reflection

**I bet you didn't expect me to update again so soon. The feeling is mutual, since I don't think I've ever done this, writing and publishing two updates in two days. Even so, I hope you enjoy this newest chapter. Please let me know what you thought when you're done reading, so I can work on improving myself. That said, enjoy!**

 **EDIT December 10, 2015: Added a bit of justification for Ruby taking the lead over someone who, as was pointed out to me, has vastly more experience and authority than she does. Also changed a bit of her wording to be more in line with her personality. Nothing big, though.**

 **Chapter Four: Monochrome Reflection**

The light began to dim quickly as we got deeper underground. It was like the very lights along the walls darkened as we descended. That, however, wasn't the most pressing issue on my mind. The charred sandwich from earlier was still wreaking havoc on my stomach, and I had the feeling Ruby's soothing back rub was wearing off. With every step I went down, my stomach shook just enough to make things very uncomfortable. To make matters worse, Ruby was directly ahead of me. If I were to vomit, I'd hit her.

My stomach growled and grumbled. I felt the blood rushing to my face. We weren't talking, and I had the feeling the concrete walls were making every sound ten times louder than it had any right to be. Thankfully, I was saved when Yang spoke up.

"How much farther down is it?"

"We're about halfway down, I think," Blake replied.

I groaned. I hoped I wouldn't end up defiling the stairs before we got there…or worse, Ruby. Deep breaths, Weiss, I told myself as we went ever deeper into Remnant's crust.

"Simply fascinating that this tunnel is so deep. The soil at this depth is extremely dense. The construction of this facility must have taken years," Dr. Oobleck marveled. He walked at the back of the group and had closed the tunnel behind us.

Blake didn't answer. I presumed this was because she didn't like to be reminded of her past. I could relate to that feeling.

"So, Dr. Oobleck, what are we supposed to discover here, anyway?" Ruby asked.

"Ideally, we'll find documents detailing our quarry's plans, but that would be foolishly optimistic to believe. If we can find anything pointing to their current whereabouts, we can consider this excursion a success," Dr. Oobleck replied.

At long last, we reached the bottom of the staircase. After taking a couple of deep breaths to settle my roiling stomach, I looked at my surroundings. We were currently in a small hallway. The same dim lights that lined the staircase were on the walls. At the end of the hallway was a single door. Ruby glanced at the rest of us, then shrugged and walked over to the door.

She tried the knob, and immediately the door swung open. It opened easily, soundlessly, which it certainly would not have done if the base had been long abandoned. I shot a look at Blake, whose expression hardened. Evidently, she was having the same thoughts I just had. Ruby looked at Dr. Oobleck, who gave her a small nod and put his finger to his lips. No more sound from here on in.

Ruby stepped through the door first. My heartrate went up. I expected to hear people shouting and machineguns firing. I wasn't too afraid for Ruby, her speed would probably allow her to step back into the hallway, but the thought of her being shot at made me irrationally angry. I soon found out that I got worked up over nothing, however, when Ruby opened the door wider and gestured for us to come in.

We stepped through the door…into a cavern that rivaled the hidden city beneath Mountain Glenn for size. In fact, since this place lacked the apartment complexes that city had, it seemed even bigger.

"It's huge…" Yang whispered.

Blake sighed. "This place was a shelter," she said softly. "During the war, the Faunus built it to hide their civilians. Due to their nature, many Faunus have an instinctive dislike of enclosed spaces, and it was for their sakes this place was made so extensive. After the war, the White Fang moved in and began to use it as a hideout. Of course, it wasn't long before other Faunus revealed its location, feeling that the White Fang was unlawful and would hurt the relationships between Faunus and Human, instead of helping it. It was abandoned shortly afterward."

Blake said all this in a rather flat voice, as if she were reciting lines from a report. I knew the symptoms as those stemming from very powerful emotions being suppressed. A rueful smile played on my lips as I realized, not for the first time, that Blake and I had certain things in common.

"So, what do we do now? We can't exactly search this entire facility," Yang said. I agreed with her, though I remained quiet. I wasn't entirely sure I could speak yet.

"We don't have to," Blake said. She pointed into the gloom at a barely discernible shape in what appeared to be the center of the cave. "That's the overseer's hut. When the White Fang used this place, it was their command center."

Yang cocked her head. "Okay, this has 'trap' written all over it in huge glowing letters," she said.

Again, I agreed with her. The cavern was silent as the grave, but there were lights, and they were on. They didn't give off a whole lot of light, granted, but they were certainly there. If this place was truly abandoned, these lights would not be working.

"Weiss? What are your thoughts on all of this? You've been so quiet," Ruby said. She was looking at me with those big, concerned eyes of hers.

Swallowing hard in a futile attempt to get rid of the lingering taste of charcoal, I said, "I agree with Yang. Nothing about this place feels right."

To my unending relief, I didn't erupt into a geyser of half-digested 'sandwich' when I spoke.

"Be that as it may," said Dr. Oobleck, "We came here to gather information. If our enemies set a trap for us, we may be able to use that to our advantage."

"You mean, we beat them up until they spill the beans?" Yang asked with a grin. "I'm down for that."

Blake didn't speak up this time. Being here was clearly taking its toll on her, and she nervously shifted her weight from leg to leg.

"I think we should do this," Ruby said, looking at the hut. She turned to face Blake. "Will you be okay?" she asked softly.

Blake took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I have to do this. For myself as well as for the mission," she said.

I admired her bravery. Unlike Blake, I wasn't so accomplished at facing my past. I'd avoided contact with my family ever since I came to Beacon, and I don't think I'd be as resolved as Blake was now, if I had to face them.

We began walking, keeping our weapons at the ready for any sudden signs of attack, but nothing came forward to hinder our progress. Looking around, I saw decrepit buildings that almost looked like large shipping containers looming in the semi-darkness. On one of the buildings, I thought I saw a marking I knew all too well. I squinted, and though it was hard to make out in the low light, I was certain that the mark on that building was indeed the Schnee company logo, the very same one I wore on the back of my bolero.

"Blake," I hissed. "Why is the Schnee Dust Corporation's logo on that building?"

Blake gave me a pained look. "Most of the buildings here were constructed from stolen materials. When the White Fang got their hands on some Dust shipments…they decided to repurpose the containers."

So the buildings didn't just _look_ like shipping containers. I wasn't sure on how to feel about this, and apparently Blake picked up on this. "Weiss, I'm sorry for the trouble we've caused your family…but you have to understand…"

I held up my hand to silence her plea. "I know," I said. "I'm not angry at you, Blake. Not…not anymore," I whispered.

Yes, I had grown to despise the White Fang and everything they stood for, despite once believing in what they represented…but Blake was in the same boat. She too had sought a better way than terrorism and crime. I couldn't be resentful of a person truly seeking to atone for the sins of others. Wasn't that exactly what I was trying to do as well, in a way? To set right the wrongs my father committed…Yes, that was my goal in life.

We reached the hut without any opposition. Again, Ruby tried the doorknob, and again, the door opened easily. The overseer's hut was larger than it had appeared from the distance, and most of the walls were lined with monitors and other electronic equipment.

Several of the monitors showed a live feed of the cavern in infrared. Judging by the vast differences in color and shape the devices had, I guessed that all of this equipment had been stolen at some point during the war, or after by the White Fang. A large, wooden table decorated the center of the room. On it lay electronic components of various sizes and a number of binders.

The sole wall that did not contain monitoring equipment was occupied by a large bookcase, containing even more binders.

"It would be best if we all examined different parts of this center," Dr. Oobleck said. "Be on the lookout for items that appear to have been hidden."

We spread out through the overseer's hut. I wandered over to the bookcase and drew out a number of binders. As I opened the first one, I felt uneasy. Something was wrong here, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I tried to focus my attention on the contents of the binder I was holding. It was dated twenty years ago. I put it at the bottom of the pile in my hand and opened up the second one. This one was even older. I looked at the bookcase and sighed. This would take a long time.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw something move. It wasn't one of my friends, who were all either gathered around the table looking into their own binders, or searching for hidden spaces elsewhere in the room. I turned towards the direction of the movement. The only thing I saw was the wall full of monitors. Had one of them glitched? I noticed only now that my heartbeat was getting faster. My subconscious had realized what I had seen, before I had.

But now, other monitors began showing movement. An unbelievable number of Grimm, mainly Ursai and Beowolves, came out of the many shadows.

"Guys," I said, keeping my voice carefully neutral.

"Hmm? What is it, Weiss?" Ruby asked, looking up from the document she was reading. I merely nodded at the monitors. The others looked.

"Well, shit," Yang muttered.

"Do they know we're here?" Ruby asked Dr. Oobleck.

He nodded gravely in response. "It's likely they heard our approach and hid. They've been known to ambush people. Them being here in such a large number can only mean one thing: whoever used this base has been completely eliminated."

My blood ran cold hearing that. Mountain Glenn had been a settlement of civilians, for the most part. The White Fang were well-armed terrorists. If they had been taken out by these Grimm…we were in a lot of trouble. Ruby took a deep breath and looked at the monitors. One of them showed the door we'd used to get into the complex. Between us and it were dozens of Grimm. Worse, among the group were several Ursai Major and Deathstalkers.

"Okay," Ruby said when she'd taken in the situation. "We're going straight for the door, and we'll cut through any Grimm we can…and avoid the ones we can't take out in one hit. If we get stuck fighting them, we're in trouble. Keep moving, no matter what."

Her eyes were cold and hard, very much unlike her normal look. I'd seen them before, in the Emerald Forest. Whatever else one might say about Ruby Rose, the girl knew how to fight Grimm.

"I concur with that analysis," Dr. Oobleck said. "We move at your signal, Miss Rose," he added. For a moment Ruby seemed surprised at the trust Dr. Oobleck was giving her, and even a bit embarrassed that she spoke up even though a teacher was present. Normally on field exercises, it's just us left to our own devices and while we all contribute, Ruby's usually the one to make our battle plans.

"Dr. Oobleck? Is it really okay for me to...?"

Dr. Oobleck cut her off with a gesture. "Miss Rose, I have seen you in action at Mountain Glenn, I know the person who trained you quite well, and Professor Ozpin has showed me your way of dealing with the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest. I would like to see more of that, so for now I shall do as you say. Rest assured that I shall take over if I think it's necessary. However, we are running low on time so please share your plan with us."

Ruby hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded.

"Get ready. I will open the door and use my speed to create a path. There are too many for me to make it all the way to the door, but it will give you a moment to come after me before they fill up the gap. Weiss, you can give all of you enough speed to make it to me before the path is gone. When we're back as a group, I want Yang in front to blast them out of the way and Weiss, you keep using your skills to help her. Blake and I will handle the flanks, and Dr. Oobleck, we need you to cover our rear."

Her lips twitched slightly when she said that, and I was amazed that someone who could outline such a detailed plan on the spot could be childish enough to think the word 'rear' was funny. Still, this showed why Ruby was the team leader. I'd known that from the moment she was chosen, but…ah, well, now wasn't the time to dwell on the past.

I looked into Ruby's eyes and nodded once. She looked at Yang, Blake, and Dr. Oobleck in turn, and each of them nodded their consent as well.

Ruby counted down. "Three, two, one, GO!" She threw open the door and blasted off in a whirlwind of rose petals. She scattered the hordes of Grimm like a plow, leaving a free area for us for dash across. I summoned my speed glyph, focusing extra hard to create one for Blake and Yang as well. I knew from experience that Dr. Oobleck was nearly as fast as Ruby. We shot forward, coming to a stop just behind Ruby.

We had covered slightly more than half of the way to the door, and the Grimm were already surrounding us. We quickly assumed our assigned positions. I stood at the center of our formation, and summoned a glyph that would double the momentum of a thrown punch. I focused its energy on Yang, who flared up her Semblance as well and began throwing punches that could shatter concrete. The Grimm in front of her were blown apart like bowling pins, and we began to move again.

Ruby, Blake, and Dr. Oobleck were fighting off the Grimm that approached us from the sides and behind us. Ruby stood slightly farther away from us to be able to wield Crescent Rose without restriction. She swung her scythe so quickly that I felt some of her victims would be left wondering why they were suddenly short an arm…only to remind myself that Grimm don't 'wonder' anything.

"Weiss, focus!" Yang yelled.

My momentary distraction had weakened my glyph, and Yang was having more trouble blowing away the Grimm. Oh, she was still killing them, but she couldn't clear a path as easily anymore.

"Sorry," I muttered, and renewed my efforts.

I wondered why I had lost my focus when I looked at Ruby. Something about the way she fought seemed almost…poetic, but for it to affect my ability to multitask was rather worrisome. We made steady progress. Every now and then I looked around to see how everyone was holding up, somehow always lingering on Ruby a little longer, but I managed to keep my focus and thus give Yang the brute force needed to secure our getaway.

"Rubes, door!" Yang yelled as we neared the exit.

Ruby only deliberated for a moment. "Yang, then Weiss, then Blake, then me, then Dr. Oobleck," she said.

"Dr., I need you to make sure the door stays closed after we're through. Weld it shut," she added.

There wasn't time for any debate, so when Yang threw open the door I stepped through after her immediately. Blake and Ruby followed, and at a gesture from Ruby took up posts next to the opening. As soon as Dr. Oobleck stepped through, Ruby threw the door shut and held it.

"Yang!"

"On it," her sister replied, lending her formidable strength to the task of keeping the door shut.

Dr. Oobleck set his weapon to its flamethrower mode, and upped the temperature to such a ludicrous degree that flame became invisible. He moved it past the metal edges of the door, causing them to glow red hot and meld with the door frame.

"Weiss, Blake, up," Ruby said, still helping Yang keep the door shut.

"But I…" I protested. How could I just leave Ruby and the others down here?

"Weiss, even welded shut this door won't hold. You and Blake need to make sure we can at least close the tunnel when we get up there," Ruby said.

Unwillingly, I turned around and went after Blake up the stairs. "This feels lousy, like I'm abandoning my friends," I said to Blake as made our way up.

"I know how you feel," she replied, and I knew she meant it. It was like she and I had everything in common today.

We got upstairs, and Blake flicked the lever that opened the hidden passage. The gears ground into life, and the boulder through which we had entered the cavern swung back. Though the sun had not yet set and the smell of the open plains was lovely, I wasn't quite in the mood to appreciate nature's beauty. I couldn't, knowing my friends were still down there.

Before I could get too worried, however, I heard footsteps racing up the stairs. Yang, Dr. Oobleck, and Ruby burst out of the tunnel.

"Close it!" Ruby yelled to Blake, who instantly stomped on the rock that hid the access switch.

The massive boulder groaned and was lowered over the hole again, giving the appearance there was nothing out of the ordinary on the plains.

"Is everyone okay?" Ruby asked, breathing heavily. One by one, we nodded.

"Ladies, while I share in our collective relief at having escaped, we should really head for the hideout now. If they break through, we don't want to be here," Dr. Oobleck said. "Remember, however, that we should be quiet. There might be other Grimm nearby, and we don't want to attract attention. Stay close, and stay ready," he advised as we began to move.

I made my way over to Ruby, whose breathing was beginning to get back to normal. "You did really well down there," I whispered.

Ruby smiled, and I swear she even blushed a little. "Thanks," she said. "I was trying to borrow your confidence," she went on.

Now it was my turn to blush a little. Confidence? Did Ruby really see me as a confident person, a…a role model of sorts?

"You always seem to know how to handle yourself," Ruby said. "Well, I can't be like that in social situations…but with something like this, I think I did okay."

I smiled. It was just like her to talk about confidence, while essentially playing herself down. "Ruby, you dolt. You're allowed to take a little more credit for what you did just now," I said. "Not everyone can come up with a plan like that on the fly. There is no one I'd rather have as a team leader and as a partner," I went on, feeling the blush on my face deepen.

I honestly didn't know why I added that last part, but the bit about the team leader was certainly true. Ruby just giggled at the compliment, completely back to her normal, innocent self by now.

"Wow, Weiss, you're really nice today. Are you feeling okay? Did you eat something strange?"

My stomach twisted at that remark. "Ruby, please. Don't mention food," I pleaded.

She looked completely nonplussed at my request, but she shrugged and let it slide. With a small smile, she turned her gaze back to our surroundings. I let my eyes linger on her for a moment longer. The setting sun gave her hair a fiery quality, and it made her look…well, beautiful. I tore my eyes away from her, and resumed searching for Grimm.

* * *

When we got back to the outpost, we sat down at the rickety table. "Well, that was a total bust," Yang said with annoyance in her voice. "We didn't find anything useful, and we couldn't even stay to fight all those Grimm."

The sad part is, I knew that Yang meant it. She would have loved to have stayed there butchering Grimm until none of them were left, but even for that would have been suicide. Still, I shared the first part of her sentiment. We couldn't go back to the hideout to search for more clues, and since we hadn't found any we officially didn't have any leads.

"Not…not exactly," Blake said hesitantly.

We all focused our eyes on her. "What do you mean, Miss Belladonna?" Dr. Oobleck inquired.

Blake took a small piece of paper out of her pocket. It looked like it had been crumpled before. She laid it down on the table so we could all get a look at it. It had a date stamp in the corner which was only one week previously. The implications of that in regards to the Grimm presence there now made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I began to read just the same.

" _Mistral Ops can proceed as planned. Don't delay._

 _A."_

 **I hope you don't mind too much I ended it on the note itself. I felt it would work that way, without any reaction shots to it. For some minor clarification on the chapter title…this fic isn't Monochrome, and it won't be. But while writing this chapter I came to the conclusion that Blake and Weiss have quite a bit in common in one way or another. Since I pointed that out about four times, I felt it was worthy of being mentioned in the title. Anyway, thanks for getting this far, please leave a review and I'll hopefully see you next time!**


	5. Blue Eyes And Gray Skies

**For the third day in a row, I have somehow managed to finish a chapter. If anyone's wondering what caused this radical shift in productivity, I'll tell you: I read a great fic the other day which had been written in about two months and had well over 100k words. I messaged the author, who told me he simply forced himself to write a chapter every day. I decided to give that a shot as well.**

 **Since he helped me by saying that, I'll do a bit of promotion for him. I'm sure he won't mind some more readers. If you like snarky humor coupled with a good dose of sometimes heart-wrenching drama, check out the works of The Draigg. I assure you it's well worth it.**

 **Now, with that done, please R &R, as usual, and most importantly: enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five: Blue Eyes And Gray Skies**

" _Mistral Ops can proceed as planned. Don't delay._

 _A."_

"Mistral, huh? I don't think I've ever been there," I said aloud.

It probably wasn't the most helpful remark to make, but I really didn't know what else I should say. It wasn't like the note contained much else of value.

"I'm more concerned about the author," Blake said through gritted teeth. Apparently there _was_ more interesting information on the note.

"A? Who's A?" Yang asked. Her eyes widened. "Wait, your partner's name…"

Blake nodded grimly. "Yes. Even without that, though, I knew this note was his. I've seen his handwriting so often…"

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but before I could figure something out, Weiss was the next person to speak up.

"Blake…I'm sorry that he's still with them. For what it's worth…I know the feeling of seeing someone you love going down a dark path."

Blake seemed surprised that Weiss, of all people, would try to comfort her. Hearing her be compassionate, and recalling the compliment she gave me as we walked back to the hut made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Weiss had changed so much since we'd met it was almost scary. Scary in the best possible way, of course.

"Thanks, Weiss," Blake said softly. Weiss gave her a small smile.

"Is there something you can tell us about this person? Or why they would choose Mistral as a base of operations?" Dr. Oobleck asked.

I get the feeling he'd kept quiet just to give Blake a moment to clam herself down, but he still had to think about the mission. That was just one more thing I liked about Dr. Oobleck.

"I'm not entirely sure," Blake said. "I mean, I know that the White Fang is a global organization, but I've never operated from Mistral. I don't have any contacts there, so I don't know where their hideout, or hideouts, are."

Dr. Oobleck stroked his chin. "That is unfortunate, however at the very least we now know where to go next."

He stood up so quickly that it startled me, and judging by the reactions of my friends they hadn't expected it either.

"Dr. Oobleck?" I asked uncertainly.

"I shall prepare dinner. We can discuss our plan of action while we eat. We mustn't lose our strength, after all."

I saw Blake and Weiss paling at the thought of having to suffer through another round of Dr. Oobleck's cooking. I felt especially sorry for Weiss, who had just seemed to have gotten past her urge to puke. Fortunately for all of us, Yang decided to step up.

"Why don't you leave that up to me, Professor? You could use a moment of rest," she said, gently pushing Dr. Oobleck back into his seat.

" _Dr._ Oobleck, if you please. But it's very thoughtful of you. The stove is all yours," Dr. Oobleck replied.

"I wouldn't do it the honor of calling it a stove…" Yang muttered as she walked over to the tiny thing.

"I didn't know you could cook, Yang," Weiss said, sounding genuinely impressed.

Yang chuckled. "Well, I'm no five-star chef, but I've cooked plenty of times for Ruby and my dad, so I should be able to avoid burning our dinner."

I winced at the obvious insult to Dr. Oobleck, but he ignored it completely and looked at Yang's actions with an intrigued look.

"Haven't you ever cooked at home, Weiss?" I asked her.

Weiss shook her head. "I…I never had to. My father had people for everything, including the food, and at Beacon we don't really have to make our own food either, except lunches."

"So…how would you do that in the field?" I asked.

Like Yang, I had cooked plenty of times at home when my father was…not well…and not every attempt went as badly as the pancakes. Aside from that, I'd been out camping often enough that I knew how to make food on a campfire.

Weiss blinked a couple of times. "I…guess I never really thought about that," she admitted.

Aww, she was adorable looking all embarrassed like that.

"Dolt," I said, with a smile as innocent as I could manage.

Weiss opened her mouth to say something in reply, but then she sighed. "I guess…you're right in this case," she admitted.

I grinned at her. It was nice to finally call _her_ a dolt for a change.

"Alright, boy and girls, dinner is served," Yang said, gently putting down a pan filled with thick soup.

"I'll get the bowls and spoons," I said, and in a flash I'd set the table. Rose petals fluttered through the air, one of which landed dead center in the pan.

"Ehehehe," I laughed nervously. "Uh, bon appetite?" I tried.

"It's 'bon appétit', you dolt," Weiss said.

She tried to sound stern, but I could hear the amusement in her voice, and I could see the gleam in her eyes even in the dim light of the old oil lamp. I guess karma really is a…unpleasant person. I don't like to swear, okay? Go to Yang if you want that kind of stuff. She knows so many unspeakable words I've seen people run in terror…although that might have more to do with her Semblance and love of fighting than her language.

I was still holding the serving spoon, so I filled it with a large scoop of soup, making sure to include the rose petal, and poured it in Weiss's bowl.

"Hey!" she said.

"No worries, rose petals are edible," I assured her. "I'm giving it to you because you were kind enough to correct me," I added sweetly.

Was I being childish? Of course. But you're not going to tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing. Vengeance is just too sweet. Rose petals are sweet too, by the way. I would know, I tried them. Before I could continue my inner monologue to an imaginary audience, Yang spoke up.

"Hey, sis? Could you please give the rest of us some soup as well? Or are you just going to stand there looking smug all night?"

I really needed to start working on breaking my habit of staring into the void when I'm talking to myself. I gave her a sheepish look, and then served her an extra-large scoop of soup as an apology. I quickly gave Blake and Dr. Oobleck a scoop as well, before finally filling up my own bowl.

As soon as I sat down, Weiss looked right at me and said, "Bon appétit, everyone."

"Smarty pants…" I grumbled, before replying with, "Let's eat!"

Despite Dr. Oobleck's suggestion of talking strategy during dinner, we ate mostly in silence. Tasting food with an actual appetizing texture and rich taste made me realize just how hungry I really was, and I guess everyone else felt the same way. Okay, it was a bit salty, but I've never been someone to complain about food unless it's absolutely terrible.

As soon as I had finished my bowl, I scooped up another. I wasn't the first one to do so, however. Weiss had a crazed look in her eyes and she was eating soup like her life depended on it.

"Um, Weiss?" Yang said hesitantly.

"No! It's mine!" she said greedily. I swear she wanted to hiss at Yang like an angry cat, much to the amusement of Blake.

"I know that, but…this soup is _heavy._ As in, once it settles, it basically becomes concrete. A single bowl will keep you up and fighting for six hours. Eating as much of it as you do…take it from me, you won't like it," Yang said.

Weiss swallowed the unbelievably large mouthful of soup and seemed to consider Yang's words. For the record, she was on her fifth bowl. Two is the maximum 'safe' amount, as I well knew. Now that she had stopped inhaling soup for a moment, Weiss apparently began to realize that Yang was right.

"I…I think I'm done eating," she said nervously.

I felt sorry for Weiss and wanted to cheer her up a bit, but before I could say anything Dr. Oobleck said, "Now that we have all eaten, we should discuss our plans."

That immediately got everyone's attention. "I have a contact in Mistral City. As luck would have it, he's an expert on Grimm, so we can visit him under the pretense of needing his input on something we found on our mission. He's also very knowledgeable about the city in general and its…more unsavory parts."

He looked at Yang, and then at me, before going on.

"He works with your Uncle Qrow regularly, whenever Qrow has business in Mistral. I shall contact him at once and then arrange for an airship to Mistral." He paused for a moment. "This time we'll be able to travel by airship. We'll likely even spend a day or two in Mistral City itself. But once that period is over, we'll be in unknown territory. We'll likely spend a good deal of time out in the swamps of Mistral. I know all of you have, by now, realized that being a Huntress is first and foremost your job, so remember that when we're out there. You have a job to all the people in Remnant to keep them safe." Once again, Dr. Oobleck stopped talking for a moment. "I say this now, because what we're doing will not be glamorous. I have seen promising students flunking out because the real life of a Huntsman was not what they had expected. But quitting is not a luxury we have. Our mission is one that is daunting even for the most experienced Huntsmen and Huntresses. Keep…"

"We know all of this, Dr. Oobleck," I said, cutting across him. I knew it was rude of me and I could see Weiss putting on a disapproving look, but I went on. "We know how important our mission is. We know how many lives depend on us now. Sure, it will be hard, but in the end we'll make it through, together." I looked at all of my friends. "You know why? Because we're Team RWBY, and we never give up!"

I finished my heroic speech by throwing my fist into the sky. Sadly, I was still holding my spoon, which still had some soup on it. The blob of soup flew through the air and hit the ceiling, where it stuck. I stared at it. Yang, Blake, and Dr. Oobleck stared at it. Weiss stared at me with a look that was equal parts exasperation and pain from eating too much. I sat down and pulled my hood over my head. So much for my heroic moment.

* * *

Later that night, I lay in my bed. Dr. Oobleck was on guard duty at the moment. Apparently there was a ladder that allowed someone to get up onto the roof. I had completely missed that because the hut was so dark. Yang and Blake were asleep, and Weiss was…well, she was writhing in pain. Yang's soup had solidified. Every now and then, I could hear her whimpering in the bed below me.

She'd probably think it was stupid…or well, the old her would think it was stupid, anyway, but I felt really bad for her. It was like all the food she'd eaten today had turned against her. I tried to remember the last time I'd binged on Yang's concrete soup. It truly felt as if my stomach had turned into an impossibly dense rock. Then, I suddenly recalled something that could lighten Weiss's pain. I leaned out of my bed to look at Weiss.

"Weiss?" I whispered.

She groaned a little louder than she had been doing up until that point, and I took it as a response.

"Drink lots of water. It makes the pain less," I told her.

Weiss looked at me for a moment to see if I was messing with her. "I'm serious. Weiss, I wouldn't lie to you when you're in pain," I said, a little hurt that she'd even consider that, but forgiving her immediately because she clearly wasn't feeling well.

Weiss grabbed her water bottle and held it up. "Is this enough?" she asked, and then winced when her stomach sent another shot of pain through her.

"That's fine. Just drink that, and then some more in half an hour or so. You'll feel better, I promise," I told her.

She looked into my eyes so intensely it made me blush. Then she gave me a small smile.

"Thank you, Ruby," she whispered.

I smiled back at her. "Anytime, Weiss."

I lay back on my bed. I could still see Weiss's eyes when I closed mine.

* * *

The next morning we left early to our pickup point, which was about forty-five minutes away from the outpost. There hadn't been any Grimm attacks all through the night, meaning they either hadn't followed us, or simply hadn't been able to get through the boulder out of the base.

I was walking next to Weiss, who was fortunately feeling much better than last night, although she had declined breakfast. "I'm sorry for not trusting you immediately last night," she said.

I shrugged. "It's okay. You were in pain."

Weiss shook her head. "It's not that simple," she said. She looked pained when she went on. "Ruby, you're my partner, my team leader, but above all you're my friend. And I still didn't trust you right away. That's…that's just wrong."

I was touched that she thought of me so highly, but I didn't want this to hurt her in any way.

"Weiss, I'm not blaming you for anything. I mean, I _was_ teasing you during dinner, you had plenty of reason not to trust me. The way I see it, I'm just glad you _did_ trust me in the end. Isn't that what counts?" I asked her.

She considered that. "I guess," she admitted. I smiled widely at her. "See? Everything's fine. Now stop worrying about it, okay?"

She smiled at me. I held up my hand before she could speak.

"And don't thank me. We're _friends_ , Weiss, and this is what friends do," I told her in a tone I hoped was firm.

Weiss chuckled. "Okay, I got it," she said.

* * *

We reached the pickup point without any trouble, and soon we were high above the clouds on our way to Mistral City. It would be my first time in another kingdom, so I was passing the time by wondering what Mistral City would be like. Was it bigger than Vale City? I guess I should have known that from class, but I was probably designing a new feature for Crescent Rose that day and that's obviously more important than learning about other cities, right?

Just about all I knew was that Mistral City had a large bay, lined with docks. Their ports were an important part of the Mistral Trade Route and it made the city a quite powerful marine force. This, though, was information I only knew because I'd played Remnant: The Board Game so often.

"Ladies, if I may have your attention for a moment?" Dr. Oobleck said. "Once we have landed, we will make our way towards Henry DeZwart, my good friend and noted Grimm expert."

"Wasn't he the one who published that article on Ursai hierarchy last year?" Weiss asked.

I had no idea what she was talking about. Sure, I know the difference between a regular Ursa and an Ursa Major, but at the end of the day I'm making them equally dead.

Dr. Oobleck, however, nodded. "Indeed he was. He was also the person who discovered that Deathstalker venom, in small doses, has antibiotic properties. It was quite the discovery," he said.

Now he and Weiss began a longwinded conversation about the various discoveries this Henry person had made in his life. I looked at Yang and Blake, who seemed equally puzzled by the conversation.

"Um, Doc?" Yang said. Dr. Oobleck interrupted his story and looked at Yang. "What will we do once we have reached your friend?" she asked.

Dr. Oobleck straightened up and took a swig of coffee. "Henry knows quite a lot about Mistral City. He should be able to point us in the right direction, several if need be. From there, we will try to pick up the trail again and most likely leave the city to head into the swamps," he said.

Over the intercom, the voice of the pilot crackled to life. "We're beginning our descent. We expect to land in about twenty minutes."

I could barely suppress the grin on my face that news. I was about to see a new city for the first time!

* * *

Of course, it was raining. Not just raining, no, it was like the clouds were dead set on hiding Mistral beneath the sea. The inhabitants of the city were indifferent to the weather. Apparently this was normal here. I had my hood up as we walked through the streets that looked more like rivers than roads. It wasn't a friendly rain, either, like the summer showers we had in Vale. No, this rain was cold. I can handle cold just fine, but being cold and wet…well, that's not really one of my favorite things in life.

Soon, though, we'd reach the house of Dr. Oobleck's friend and we'd at least be dry. I tried to do a bit of sightseeing as we walked along a broad road, but we were apparently in a business district because most of the buildings were featureless glass towers that just reflected the gloomy sky. All in all, not the best first impression.

Still, we had only just arrived. I was sure Mistral City would show its better side yet. I looked at my teammates. Out of the three of them, Yang seemed the least concerned with the rain. I could see that the majority of the raindrops evaporated before even hitting her. Blake, on the other hand, looked miserable. Maybe it was the cat part of her that hated the rain. Her face rivaled the dark clouds above us for all the joy it gave off. Weiss had a face that was carefully neutral, but I knew her well enough to know that in her head, she was using some of Yang's favorite words. I'd never heard her say any of them, but I just _knew_ that she often thought them. Anger is one emotion that you can almost touch when it's coming from Weiss, although fortunately she wasn't angry as often as she used to be anymore.

When we had left the business district, we walked into a street that seemed a bit friendlier. Bars and restaurants were everywhere, and the bright colors of the light stood out even more in the darkness of the bad weather.

We soon turned into a smaller street, and this time it looked like we were in a street where people actually lived. Dr. Oobleck stopped in front of a narrow door in a house that seemed a bit squashed between the two wider houses next to it. The wall had a slightly different color gray than the two houses beside it so that it was easier to tell the houses apart. He rang the doorbell.

"Hold up, _this_ is the place such a famous scientist lives?" Yang asked incredulously.

Dr. Oobleck looked at her as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course! Living in downtown Mistral is expensive, you know. Why, the rent in some areas is up to five thousand lien a month."

My mouth fell open. For five thousand lien you could probably buy our entire house on Patch. I looked at the house again. Patch certainly _seemed_ like the more attractive option. But hey, maybe it was one of those houses that were bigger on the inside.

* * *

The house was not bigger on the inside. I was getting a bit tired of having all my optimism blow up in my face like a mishandled Dust crystal. At the very least, we'd been able to hang up our cloaks on an overcrowded coat rack in the incredibly narrow hall. I hadn't, of course, but I was determined to mention at least _something_ positive about this place.

I was sitting on a small couch that had probably been designed to seat two people at most, but I was on it with the rest of my teammates. We were crammed in between the armrests, and getting up would certainly be a problem when that time came.

Dr. Oobleck had been lucky enough to get one of the two actual chairs in the house. It was, however, a plain wooden chair without any pillow, so how much of an advantage the chair was, was up for debate. The other chair in the room was identical to the one Dr. Oobleck was sitting on, and it was currently empty.

Mr. DeZwart entered the room holding a tray full of steaming mugs filled with chocolate milk. A can of whipped cream stood on the tray as well. My eyes widened. Finally, something that was undeniably positive. You just couldn't go wrong with chocolate milk, especially in weather like this.

Once we all had a mug, Mr. DeZwart sat down as well. He turned to Dr. Oobleck first. "So, Bartholomew, what can I do for you? I gathered it's extremely important."

Mr. DeZwart had a voice like a raspy old man, although he looked young. His hair was black and quite long, and he had a small, pointed beard. His small glasses made him look smart, although that was canceled out a bit by the fact that his long hair didn't really looked well cared for. In fact, he looked a bit like he'd been electrocuted, with the way his hair stood out in all directions.

Dr. Oobleck nodded. "Indeed it is, Henry. We're here on a mission from Ozpin. We can't tell you exactly what we're after, but we need to find the White Fang."

Mr. DeZwart's eyes narrowed. "The White Fang?" There was so much loathing in his voice that I could feel Blake shiver two spots over on the couch. "I can probably help you with that," Mr. DeZwart said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least we hadn't come here for nothing. I took a sip of my chocolate milk and almost squealed with delight. It was nice and sweet, exactly the way I like it. Maybe I'd start to like Mistral City after all.

"Now, I can't promise you anything, of course," Mr. DeZwart said. "I myself have no contacts with the White Fang and I would like to keep it that way. I deal with shady people if I must, but I will not be associated with these terrorists in any way."

I glanced at Blake and saw that her eyes narrowed.

"We understand that, Mr. DeZwart," Weiss said, before he could say anything else that would make Blake angry. "But it's imperative that we learn where we can find them. We won't be able to stop them otherwise. I'm sure you understand that we have no more desire to see them than you do."

Mr. DeZwart looked at her over the edge of his glasses. I wondered what the purpose of the glasses even was if he was going to look over their edge.

"You're right, Miss Schnee. Forgive me, I did not mean to imply that you were in any way connected to them."

Weiss shifted uncomfortably on the couch, but she smiled anyway. Mr. DeZwart looked at Dr. Oobleck again. "There are three locations worth trying here in Mistral City. One is a bar in the downtown area, called the Broken Oar. I've seen White Fang recruiters there before, so it might help. The second location is a restaurant two streets away, called Blue Leaf. It's run by a Faunus known to sympathize with the White Fang's aims. Lastly, there is an office in the business district run by a local mobster who has done business with Roman Torchwick several times in the past. He's usually well informed."

Mr. DeZwart let his eyes go over all of us. "That is all the information I can currently offer you...but, as I understand it, your cover story is that you're researching the origin of the Grimm, is it not? I'd be very interested in providing more information in that regard."

"We'll most likely take you up on that offer before we depart Mistral City, Henry," Dr. Oobleck said. "But for now, we should go out and investigate the locations you gave us."

He turned to my friends and me. "Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long, you'll visit the bar downtown. Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, you shall visit the Blue Leaf restaurant and speak to the owner. I shall visit the business district and speak to this mobster. Are we all clear on what needs to be done?" he asked.

I nodded. Time to go to work.

 **Originally, this chapter was going to include the search. However, I'm well over 4k words as it is and I didn't want to make it too long. I'm afraid dinner got a bit out of hand; I never intended that scene to be as long as it was. Still, I don't regret writing it. I feel it's what the characters would have done. Anyway, please leave a review to tell me what you think. Don't hesitate to be critical, as long as it's constructive. I want to improve, and I need you all to help me do it. See you next time!**

 **Oh, before I forget, for any Dutch readers wondering why I render Henry's name as DeZwart instead of the more common 'de Zwart': I did that because I often see names that were once Dutch rendered this way in English-speaking settings. For the English-speaking people among us, 'zwart' is the Dutch word for black, meaning Henry complies with the rules.**


	6. A Helping Hand

**First off, some words for my reviewers: Thank you. Some of you are guest reviewers, and because of that I can't reply via PM, but there are a few things that I would like to say: To the anonymous Guest and WR, who both pointed out Ruby being OOC in chapter 4, I'd like to say thanks. You were absolutely right that Ruby would never just** _ **take**_ **command the way she did there. Because of that I made a small edit to make it less egregious, in which Dr. Oobleck tells Ruby to take the lead with the stipulation that he'd step in if things go wrong. I still want Ruby to be the one leading the fight, but your points are valid and acknowledged.**

 **To Guest alone now, I feel honored that you're still reading even though you don't like the way I write Ruby. I understand the sentiment completely, so thank you for that. I also took another look at Ruby's language, and changed it a bit to seem more natural for her. My view is that her combat vocabulary is quite rich because she's something of a prodigy in a fight, but I still changed some things that, indeed, felt wrong coming from her. Since my own way of speaking and writing is more like Weiss's (I'm pretentious as all hell sometimes) I find it hard to truly capture the way Ruby talks, but I'll try even harder to pull it off. In any case, on this point as well you were entirely right.**

 **Now, with that out of the way, it's time for the search for the White Fang to begin. Enjoy, and please leave a review. Rest assured that I will take it to heart, though I might not follow every suggestion.**

 **Chapter Six: A Helping Hand**

It was still raining when Ruby and I left Mr. DeZwart's house. I sighed as I pulled my white cloak, decorated with the Schnee family crest, around me and put on the hood. As we walked back through the narrow street towards the busier part of the city, Ruby asked, "Have you ever been to Mistral before?"

I didn't answer immediately. I had been to Mistral before, very long ago. The only thing I remembered was a blue sky with gray clouds distant on the horizon, and my father's voice. _"Look at those clouds, Weiss. By their shape, you can tell what kind of weather they bring. A storm is coming."_

"Weiss?"

I snapped out of my daydream of sorts and said, "I've been here a long time ago, but I was too young to remember it."

"Oh, that's too bad," Ruby said. "But hey, maybe you'll see something that reminds you of it," she went on cheerfully.

"Yeah, maybe," I said. In the back of my mind, I heard the faded echo of my father's voice again. _"A storm is coming."_ Shortly after that trip to Mistral, things had gone downhill. The White Fang became more and more active, and my father became more and more distant. Strikes became riots, people began to disappear, and death threats became common. Maybe that's why I remembered those ominous words most of all.

"Are...are you okay?" Ruby asked, once more bringing me back to the present. I noticed I had my fists clenched and was gritting my teeth. I quickly relaxed and looked into Ruby's worried eyes. Their silver was much friendlier than the forbidding gray of the sky.

"I'm okay, Ruby. I was just...thinking about something. It's not important," I assured her.

"If you say so..." she said uncertainly.

"Really, I'm fine," I pressed, and before she could argue about it I said, "Now, let's find that restaurant and get some information out of them."

I quickly turned around and resumed walking, leaving Ruby no choice but to follow me. This was the second time in two days I'd had to resort to using a quick change of subject to prevent Ruby from asking about me. I honestly don't know why I'm so adamant that she not know what is bothering me. I'd considered telling my teammates more about myself after the debacle with Blake, but for some reason I kept quiet every time. I guess I'm just not a very open person.

We walked past a dozen restaurants, most of them seafood-based because of Mistral's thriving fishery. "What would a seafood restaurant need to do to stand out around here?" I mused idly as we passed yet another restaurant that promised 'the best fish on Remnant'.

"Uh….Oh! I know! Swordfish gladiators!" Ruby said proudly.

I looked at her and opened my mouth to speak, but what does one say to a remark so far removed from making any sort of sense? "How would that even…?" I began.

I knew I should've kept quiet. Ruby would indubitably have this concept completely thought out already. Aside from being great at coming up with battle plans, she's also a natural at coming up with concepts too demented to be believed. If I was entirely honest with myself, though, I had to admit that I actually really like those demented concepts.

"Okay, look," Ruby began. "The fishermen catch the swordfishes…"

"Swordfish," I corrected. "The plural of fish is still fish. 'Fishes' refers to multiple species, rather than multiple individuals."

Ruby made an exasperated noise. "They catch the _swordfish_ ," she said with a glare, "And then they take off the sword part, put a hilt on it and have people fight it out, and the loser pays the bill."

"That's…surprisingly viable, coming from you," I said. You have to understand that the last time Ruby came up with a radical concept, it involved machineguns, spaceships, and lemmings, specifically in that order.

"Well, it would be. You're the one who gave me the idea when you used a swordfish in that food fight with Team JNPR," Ruby said with a grin. "Oh, I think the Blue Leaf's over there," she went on before I could reply.

I followed her gaze, and I indeed noticed a sign decorated with a bright blue oak leaf. Underneath the leaf were the words 'Blue Leaf Restaurant'. It was a relatively small and unassuming restaurant compared to the pomp and grandeur the others seemed to possess. I felt my heartrate climb. We were about to go into the lair of the enemy. I then had the none-too-pleasant realization that I was wearing my family crest on my back, and I was about to step into a restaurant filled with White Fang supporters.

"Um, Ruby?" I said hesitantly. She gave me a quizzical look. "They might not take too kindly to a Schnee stepping into their restaurant," I said, indicating my back.

Ruby frowned, but then her eyes lit up. "You could wear my cloak," she said with a smile, and immediately began taking it off. I stopped her before she could unclasp it, however.

"Ruby, we're in a torrential downpour here. You can't just take your cloak off in the middle of that," I chided.

She gave me a dismissive shrug. "We'll be indoors in a moment anyway; I'm sure I'll be fine," she said.

She took off the cloak and handed it to me. I was still a bit unhappy about her decision to stand out in the rain without it, but once Ruby makes up her mind there's no arguing with her. I put on Ruby's cloak over my own, hiding the incriminating crest on my back.

"Come on, let's get inside," I said to Ruby. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me.

* * *

I was still holding Ruby's hand and dragging her along when we entered the restaurant and walked down the tacky red carpet to a Faunus waiter who seemed quite bored with his job. He had two small antlers on his head, the prongs of which had clearly been sharpened. When he saw Ruby and me approaching him, he grinned.

"Aw, how cute. Are the two of you on a date?" he asked mockingly, looking pointedly at our joined hands. Ruby and I looked at each other and then quickly let go. I felt my cheeks flush. Ruby turned bright red as well.

"That is hardly a professional way to greet a customer," I said angrily.

The waiter ignored me. "You're turning just as red as that cloak of yours, princess," he sneered.

"Never mind that, just let me talk to your boss," I snapped.

"Sure, princess," the waiter said with a voice laden with loathing. I growled as he walked off. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with aggravating waiters, certainly not if they were just going to make disparaging remarks about Ruby and me. A date? I mean, come on! I shot a glance at Ruby, who was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt and looking at the ground.

Without wanting to, I found myself wondering what it would actually be like to be on a date with her. It would probably be more fun than the few dates I actually _have_ had in my life. At least Ruby cared about me for me…Wait, what was I thinking? Why was I even considering this? Damn that stupid waiter! I couldn't believe I actually let his mocking get to me, and that just made me angrier.

I saw him returning, followed by a tall man with black hair, narrow golden eyes and two dog-like ears coming from his head. The man was dressed in a black suit and wore a black tie. His look was as cold as ice.

"I am Cyril Cyano, the owner and founder of the Blue Leaf restaurant," he introduced himself. His voice was silky smooth and had a musical undertone. "And you…you should not be here," he went on with an unmistakable threat in his words.

I wanted to open my mouth, but Ruby stepped forward instead. "Sir, why do you want us gone so badly?"

Cyano laughed. I'd expected it to sound like a dog's bark, but it sounded like more like a hoarse opera singer. "You're Humans," he spat. "And you're obviously not from around here or you would know that we don't take kindly to them."

I took a deep breath. I'd known from the start this was going to take some manipulation. Fortunately, I'm a Schnee. "You know, you might want to figure out if a Human stepping in here could possibly be an ally, instead of immediately insulting them," I said, putting my hands on my hips to accentuate my words.

Cyano fixed his eyes on me. I could say he was like a wolf looking at his prey, but that would give him too much credit. "Ally? To what cause, pray tell?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Cyril. I know you support the White Fang."

In my heart, I crossed my fingers. While racism is sadly abundant, not many would openly admit to supporting terrorists…or take kindly to being accused of doing so. Saying this was a huge gamble. From the corner of my eye I saw Ruby tensing up as well.

Cyano's nostrils flared and for a moment I expected him to draw a weapon, but then he calmed down. "You have guts to make such accusations," he said, lowering his voice.

"And you're doing an _excellent_ job of denying it," I said sarcastically. My father once told me that business negotiations often contained a lot of veiled hostility, because angry people are easier to manipulate.

I was hoping that his words had been true, and that Cyano didn't possess the emotional control my father and sister had to simply ignore any insults. Fortunately, he seemed to fall for it. His breathing was getting heavier. "Careful there, Cyril. All that anger can't be good for your heart," I said coolly.

My heart was hammering against my ribs. If my father hadn't trained me in this for most of my life I would've already fallen to pieces. I wasn't afraid of a fight, necessarily, but dealing with people is much scarier than the mindless beasts of Grimm.

With an angry growl, Cyano threw his hands up in the air. "Alright, Ice Queen," he said. God damn it. Now even the people in Mistral are calling me by that inane name. "What do you want?"

"We need to know where the next White Fang rally is being held," I said.

"Why?" Cyano demanded.

I made an impatient noise. "Listen, Cyril, we need to get to that rally and Adam didn't think it was smart to tell us too much from the start, so he sent us here. Now tell me the location, or he'll want a word with you," I said.

"Adam, huh? Never liked him," Cyano spat. Despite those words, he relaxed almost imperceptibly. Maybe we would actually get the information. I certainly hoped so, because my nerves were really starting to get frayed from all the bluffing. Cyano remained silent for a moment and I was just about to make another sarcastic remark, when…

"Weiss, get down!" Ruby pulled me down to the ground with her and the air above me was ripped apart by gunfire. I'd been so focused on Cyril that I hadn't even noticed another Faunus drawing a gun behind me. That did explain why Cyano relaxed, however. So much for my manipulative skills.

I didn't have time to say anything to Ruby, because Cyano had now drawn a revolver and aimed it at my head. At this range, my Aura would never be able to block it, so I summoned a glyph and blew him into the far wall of the restaurant. I unsheathed Myrtenaster as Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose.

"I don't think your plan worked, Weiss," Ruby said, completely earnestly.

I looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "No, really, you think?"

"Well…"

"I was being sarcastic! Weren't you paying attention just now?! Oh, forget it, we need to get out of here."

That was easier said than done, however. Cyano's goons had blocked off the exit and although we were more than capable of simply killing them it wasn't an option I liked to consider. Fortunately, I saw the green glow of an emergency exit behind the insufferable waiter, who was now brandishing an assault rifle at us.

"Behind the waiter," I whispered.

Ruby nodded. I stabbed Myrtenaster's blade into the floor and used my ice Dust to trap the waiter's rifle. At the same moment, Ruby hooked Crescent Rose underneath a nearby table and swung it into the group of Faunus behind us.

We ran for the emergency exit with the bullets of the unharmed Faunus whizzing around us. I felt a couple of them hitting me, but my Aura was strong enough to deflect the glancing blows. Ruby reached the door before I did and didn't bother opening it the normal way. Instead, she cut out the entire door with one twirl of her scythe.

I quickly took in our surroundings. We were in a narrow alley, blocked off by a wall on one side and connecting to a series of other alleys on the other. Without waiting for our pursuers, we began to run. The system of alleys was a real maze, with dead ends at seemingly random places, but to my immense relief Cyano's goons didn't seem to be following us. Despite this, we kept running until we finally emerged onto a large street, where bright neon signs lit up the city, their light reflecting from the deep puddles on the road. When I saw the puddles I turned around to look at Ruby, who had been behind me in the alleys. I was still wearing her cloak, and Ruby was drenched to the bone and shivering violently.

"Oh God, Ruby," I whispered. I immediately took off her cloak and clasped it around her shivering shoulders.

"I-I'm f-f-fine, Weiss," she said through chattering teeth. She pulled her cloak tighter around her.

"You're obviously not fine," I said sternly. "What if you've got hypothermia? We need to get you indoors, come on."

I grabbed her hand, and when I did I thought about the waiter's remark about Ruby and me again. Now was not the time to dwell on it, however. I had to get Ruby somewhere warm, and to do that I first needed to find out where we were. Looking around, I spotted a wide arch that led into some old shopping streets. I pulled Ruby with me under the arch, so that we were at least out of the rain. I pulled out my scroll and took a glance at the map of the area. I looked at the street names and zoomed out a bit, hoping to find the street name of either our hotel or Mr. DeZwart's house.

"W-Weiss?" Ruby said. I looked up from my scroll. "I-I'm not so fine as I t-t-thought I w-was," she said.

She looked smaller than usual because of the way she was huddled up, and it pained me to see her like this, even more so because it was my fault that she was like this.

"I'm finding out where we are so we can get to a warm place," I said. "You'll feel better once you're all warm and dry again."

I said that as much for my own conscience as to soothe her. I dreaded the thought that I might have made her sick. I looked at the street names surrounding ours and soon found the street our hotel was in. I memorized the route, then grabbed Ruby's hand again.

"We're going to the hotel, Ruby. It's only two streets away," I promised her. She nodded, but didn't reply. While we walked, I texted the others to let them know we were headed to the hotel, hoping things had gone better for them than they had for Ruby and me.

* * *

The Mistral Grand Hotel was the largest building by far in the street. It was widely used by businessmen and politicians, and somehow Headmaster Ozpin had managed to arrange rooms for us in it. The only problem was that we couldn't enter our rooms yet, because Dr. Oobleck had to fill out the paperwork.

So, Ruby and I sat in the lobby, waiting for the others to join us at the hotel, hopefully with our bags. The original plan had been to return to Mr. DeZwart's home first to retrieve our bags, and then travel to the hotel together. I wasn't about to put Ruby through that in her current condition, however. She was still sopping wet and shivering, even though we sat close to the heater.

The man behind the counter was giving us a very disapproving look for getting the extremely expensive seats wet. Before I joined Beacon and met Ruby and the other, my reaction would've been the same. Now, though, I couldn't care less about the damage I caused to the seats, as long as Ruby was okay.

I looked around the rest of the hotel lobby. The floors were high quality marble, the seats covered with exquisite leather. To the right of the reception desk was a coffee bar that sold only the most expensive brands imported from all over Remnant. Seeing the bar gave me an idea.

"Ruby, wait here for a moment. I'll be right back," I promised her.

She nodded once, and then resumed her shivering. I strode over to the coffee bar. Fortunately there wasn't a line.

"How may I help you?" the bartender asked.

"Do you sell hot chocolate with whipped cream?" I asked.

"Fifteen lien," the bartender replied.

Having grown up in a wealthy family, the steep price didn't surprise me much, but after my time at Beacon, where the same chocolate milk went for three lien, it was a rather unwelcome wake-up call. "I'll have two then, please," I said, digging up the money from my wallet.

When I had the two mugs of chocolate milk, I returned to Ruby. I handed her a mug and noticed that the receptionist now seemed absolutely livid that we had the audacity to enjoy a beverage on these expensive chairs. I knew he wasn't allowed to tell off customers, however.

"Thanks, W-Weiss," Ruby said.

"It's the least I could do," I said. "It's my fault you didn't have your cloak."

Ruby took a sip of her chocolate milk. "Don't feel g-guilty, Weiss. It was my own c-choice," she said. She was still shivering, but the chocolate milk at least seemed to help a little. She smiled and took another sip.

At that moment, Dr. Oobleck, Yang, and Blake entered the hotel. Yang and Blake were carrying the bags of Ruby and me. While Dr. Oobleck walked over to the reception, Yang and Blake made their way to us.

"Wow, sis, did you go for a swim or something?" Yang joked upon seeing Ruby's still dripping clothes. Ruby merely shivered in response.

"What happened?" Blake asked, ignoring Yang as well.

"Ruby lent me her cloak because mine had the Schnee crest on it," I said.

A look of understanding appeared on Blake's face. "So when everything went wrong, you had to run, and Ruby didn't have her cloak," she concluded.

I nodded, feeling my face light up in shame.

Yang shook her head. "You're way too nice sis," she said. "Now you got hosed," she added with a grin.

I groaned at the lame pun. "Yang, please," I said.

"Alright, alright. Geez, tough crowd tonight," Yang complained.

Dr. Oobleck strode over to us. He didn't look happy. "Rooms 435 through 437 are ours," he began. He looked at Ruby. "Miss Rose, I expected you to know better than to give up your gear when the weather obviously doesn't allow it. When a mission encounters a snag like this, you must never endanger yourself if it's not necessary. You should have gone back and picked up a spare cloak for Miss Schnee."

It was new for me to hear Dr. Oobleck being so critical, but he was entirely right with what he said. Ruby nodded. "I'm s-sorry, Dr. Oobleck."

Dr. Oobleck sighed. "Apology accepted, Miss Rose, but try to be more careful in the future. And Miss Schnee," he added with a look at me. "Please make sure you think well before heading into a mission. The mistake you made in wearing that cloak has led to this. Exercise more caution in the future."

I looked into Dr. Oobleck's eyes and said, "Yes, Dr. Oobleck. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Dr. Oobleck said. "Now come on. Miss Rose needs to get into some dry clothes."

* * *

I lay back on the bed in the hotel room. It was much springier than the one in the outpost had been. Ruby was taking a hot shower while her clothes hung to dry on some coat hangers. As soon as she was done, we were going to discuss the findings of the others and plan our next move.

Once again, I thought about the remark of the Faunus waiter. The idea of a being on a date with Ruby was strange, but now that my gut reaction had settled and I finally had moment to actually think about it, I realized that the thought was actually a quite pleasant one. Could it be? Did I really have feelings for Beacon's number one dolt? I recalled the way my eyes had lingered on her in the fight yesterday, and how beautiful she'd looked in the setting sun. I recalled the sense of strange pride I'd felt when Ruby reacted more strongly to what I'd said at her mother's grave than to Blake's words. Weird as it was for me to accept it, I had to admit to myself that it was true: I'd fallen in love with Ruby Rose.

Just as that realization really hit me, the bathroom door opened and Ruby came out in a cloud of steam. The first thing I noticed was that her corset wasn't laced properly and that her hair hadn't been done. A feeling of apprehension filled me.

"Ruby?" I said uncertainly.

She staggered over towards her bed, the one closest to the bathroom, and sat down on it.

"I'm feeling really fuzzy," she said. She sounded very fragile when she said that.

I got off my bed and knelt down next to her. I put my hand to her forehead. "You're burning up…" I whispered. Things had just taken a turn for the worse.

 **Oh dear, Ruby is sick! How will this affect the search for the White Fang? When did I become the narrator of a bad show? The answers to all of these will be revealed in the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review, because as the lengthy intro to this chapter proves, I need them.**


	7. Sick Day

**This chapter was a huge pain to write. When I was halfway through I scrapped the entire thing and started over. I'm still not entirely sure this chapter is what I want it to be, but it does its job alright, I think, and I want to get on with the story.**

 **To Guest: you don't have to worry about being critical here. I think a writer needs to be able to accept the opinions of other people, and I also believe that hearing other points of view can only ever be a good thing. People who blow up at legitimate criticism just need to learn not to take everything personally. Out of curiosity, however, I'd like to ask if there is a story on FFnet that portrays Ruby in the way you would like to see her written. I'm very interested to see what I would think of it.**

 **Aside from that, thanks to everyone else who took the time to review, especially SodeNoZangetsu (FFnet doesn't like the dots), since you're always quick and constructive with your reactions. Now, let's get to the chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Seven: Sick Day**

I was in some kind of desert. A really narrow, very hot desert, and I was in a car. Also the desert was going straight up into the sky, and it was looping around. The car drove itself, and all I could was look around at the same sights, over and over.

I felt uneasy and wanted to get out of the car, but I couldn't. I tried to speak, but I couldn't do that, either. Round and round the car went. I was beginning to feel a bit panicked now. In the sky, images began to appear. Vague flashes of things I'd seen in my life. I saw all my friends, at many different moments, but the person I saw most was…

* * *

"Weiss…"

Slowly, I woke up from the dream. I could still feel the heat of the desert, but I began to realize that I was in a bed, not in a car. I was tangled up in the sheets and lying on my side. I changed positions to my back, unwrapping myself from the sheets in the process, and finding out the bed was soaked in sweat. I groaned at the grossness of it and opened my eyes. The curtains were still closed, but a faint orange light still came through them. I noticed that Weiss sat on her own bed, watching me with a very worried look in her eyes.

"Good morning, Ruby," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," I croaked.

My voice sounded like I had turned into a hundred-year-old man who had smoked a thousand cigarettes a day. My throat was as dry as the desert in my dream had been. Weiss got up off the bed, grabbed my empty water bottle and walked into the bathroom to fill it up.

She handed the bottle to me and said, "You need to stay well hydrated."

I gulped all the water down in one go, and enjoyed the cold feeling in my throat as it went down. "Thanks," I said, sounding a little bit more like myself again. "What time is it?" I asked.

Last night, Yang and Blake had told us they had found out the location of the White Fang rally. It would be held in a warehouse on the outskirts of Mistral City's industrial quarter. The plan was to go there by and investigate the area, but Dr. Oobleck (and my teammates) had told me I couldn't go. I knew they were right, but it still annoyed me that they got do cool spy things while I was stuck here in a sweaty bed.

"It's eleven thirty," Weiss replied. "The others are already gone."

I shot her a surprised look. "Shouldn't you be with them?"

Maybe it was my fever, or the orangey light in the room, but I could've sworn Weiss was blushing. "Yang and I both didn't want you to be alone…and I convinced them to let me stay here because it's my fault you got sick."

I didn't tell Weiss, but I was really happy that she was the one who'd stayed with me, even though I didn't want her to feel guilty. I didn't think I'd ever really had a crush on anyone before, so I wasn't certain if that's what it was, but yesterday when that waiter asked us if Weiss and me were on a date my first thought was that it would be fun if we were. I also thought Weiss was beautiful and funny, and she could be really sweet. Still, even if I _did_ have a crush on her, I wasn't going to do anything with it. I liked the friendship I had with her, and I didn't want to ruin that. Besides, I thought she liked Neptune.

So, setting aside my feelings for the moment, I looked at Weiss. "Isn't it boring to just sit here while I'm mostly out cold? Or, well, out hot, I guess…" I asked, as a wave of heat rushed over me and I saw stars for a moment. I blinked a couple of times to get my vision back to normal.

"Don't worry about me," Weiss said. "I've got my scroll, and I've got the TV as well. You just get as much rest as you can and get better, okay?"

But Weiss mentioning the TV had gotten rid of any desire I had to go back to sleep. "Could you see if there are any cartoons?" I asked.

I propped up my pillow and sat up, causing another heat wave to hit me like a brick. "Uuuugh." I held my head with both my hands and waited for the feeling to pass.

"Maybe you should just lie down again," Weiss said. "I'll adjust the TV a bit so you can see it."

I lay back down and sighed. "Thanks, Weiss," I said.

Weiss changed the angle of the wall-mounted TV a bit so I could see the screen clearly and sat down on her own bed with the remote. The first channel was a talk show. So was the one after. Weiss kept channel surfing, passing news shows with boring news, talk shows with boring guests and topics like 'My brother married his eggplant', a musical talent show where a man sang a really weird off-key song while a man in the audience moved to a completely different beat, and finally ending up on a channel that referenced about fifty shows I knew from my childhood.

It was very weird, because the main character seemed to be a talking brick, who was talking very slowly and sadly to the other characters on the screen. The brick itself constantly changed outfits to reference other series.

"What…what are we even watching?" I asked Weiss.

She shook her head. "I don't know, but it's too demented to turn it off."

The talking brick was now standing in an empty, white void without any attributes. There was a puff of smoke, and now the brick wore glasses.

"I am a nerd," it said.

The word 'NERD' appeared in the background in huge red letters, and the brick kept repeating that one sentence.

"Weiss? Is this my fever or am I really seeing this?" I asked her.

At this point, I really wasn't certain about anything anymore. All I know is that this strange made me think about the feverish dreams I had, and it really wasn't making me feel any better.

Weiss sighed and switched off the TV. "Okay, I changed my mind. I think that's more than enough of that," she said. "I will see that thing in my nightmares…" she muttered.

Once again, I could feel a wave of heat hitting me, more intense than the one I felt when I tried to sit up earlier. I threw off the covers to cool down a bit, but Weiss got up from her bed and pulled them over me again.

"You have to stay warm, Ruby." Her voice sounded like it came from very far away.

My mind was foggy. I turned onto my side and closed my eyes. I'd felt a bit better shortly after waking up, but now I was right back to being miserable. Then, I felt a cold touch on my forehead. Weiss was running her hand through my hair. It felt really nice. I felt a bit more peaceful. Weiss kept stroking my hair, and after a few minutes I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, I felt much better than when I fell asleep. The weird rushing noise in my head was almost gone, and I didn't feel as hot anymore. Weiss looked up from her scroll when she saw me moving.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Yeah. How long did I sleep?" I asked her.

She checked her scroll. "You slept for most of the afternoon. The others should be back soon, I think."

I sat up in my bed. "Before I fell asleep, you were stroking my hair."

Weiss began to blush lightly when I said that.

"It felt really nice," I said. I think I was blushing as well. My theory of having a crush on her seemed to be true.

"I'm glad it helped," Weiss said. "It's something Winter used to do when was younger."

Before I could say anything in response, the door of the room opened and Yang, Blake and Dr. Oobleck came in. "Hey sis!" Yang said cheerfully. "Feeling better yet?"

I nodded. "Yeah, lots," I said. "So, what did you discover?" I asked.

Dr. Oobleck stepped forward. "The warehouse in question lies at the heart of the industrial complex. It's the first of three, and the White Fang appear to have mechs and weapons stored in the other two. We weren't able to ascertain just how much material they possess, however, because we could only see into the warehouses from a great distance."

"Guards were on patrol throughout the entire complex. They're not taking any chances," Blake said.

"Isn't it dangerous for them just to be there in such numbers in the first place?" Weiss asked.

Dr. Oobleck nodded. "Yes, that's why their presence there disturbs me greatly. If they can be present in such an open location, I fear the local authorities may have been compromised."

"Then we have to stop them!" I said.

I tried to get out of bed, but Weiss stopped me. "You have to stay in bed, Ruby. You're still sick," she said sternly.

"You can't be serious," I said. "That you keep me out of the spying part was bad enough, but now you want to keep me out of the fighting part too?"

"If all goes well there won't be any fighting. Miss Rose, the one great advantage we have over our enemies is the element of surprise. In your current state, your judgement is jeopardized, as are your reaction times should it come to a fight. It's simply too dangerous for the mission to have you along. I hope I needn't remind you that the mission comes before personal feelings," Dr. Oobleck said.

I looked at him, and while his words had been stern his eyes were sincere. And, of course, he was right. "Alright," I said, a bit unwillingly. "I'll stay here."

"Actually, since it's possible the local authorities have been infiltrated, we will no longer be using the hotel as a base. We shall go back to Henry's house, where you will be able to recover. Henry was also prepared to look after you, should you need anything, since I want Miss Schnee to accompany us this time," Dr. Oobleck said.

I looked at Weiss, who looked strangely sad at the thought of going with the others on their mission. I wasn't too happy about it either, although that was probably for different reasons. I doubted Mr. DeZwart would stroke my hair until I fell asleep. I also doubted that even if he did, it would feel as nice as when Weiss did it.

* * *

It wasn't raining for once when we walked to Mr. DeZwart's house. I also wasn't feeling nearly as bad anymore as I had last night, or even this morning, so the walk was pretty easy. So, instead of being shoved into a bed as soon as we got to Mr. DeZwart's place, he gave me a blanket and told me I could lie on the couch when the others had gone for their mission, so I could watch some TV.

First, though, it was time for dinner. As with everything in Mr. DeZwart's house, the dinner table was very small. We sat shoulder to shoulder and we could hardly use our forks and knives without elbowing each other in the side. Well, at least the food was tasty.

Then, it was time for the others to go the White Fang rally. "Now, Miss Rose, even though you will not be present I will at least share our plans with you," Dr. Oobleck said. "We will infiltrate the rally and gain as much information on their intentions as possible. Then, we shall sabotage their equipment and make our escape. If all goes well, we shall return here after we're done."

"What if something goes wrong?" I asked.

"Then we shall make our escape into the western swamps, whereupon we shall contact you regarding our location, so you will be able to join up with us again."

Yang gave me a bear hug before she left. "Don't worry, sis, I'll tell you all about it when we get back," she said.

"We'll have plenty of work left after this mission," Blake said. "So get all the rest you can and get well soon."

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Blake. You too, Yang," I said, smiling at my sister as well. They walked outside, where Dr. Oobleck was waiting.

Only Weiss was still inside. "Be careful, okay?" I said.

"We will," she said. It sounded like she wanted to say something else, but then she just said, "Don't stay up too late. See you tomorrow, Ruby."

She turned around and followed the others outside, and I went back into the living room where Mr. DeZwart was reading a book. He looked up when I sat down on the couch and threw the blanket over myself, more out of gratitude to Mr. DeZwart than wanting to get warm. My fever had gone down a bit, but I was still plenty warm for my tastes.

"It doesn't feel right, does it?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "No, it doesn't." I said.

Mr. DeZwart closed his book and put it on the small table next to him. "When I was in training, many years ago, I also got sick once. I couldn't go on missions with my team for nearly two weeks," he said.

"So what did you do in that time?" I asked him.

He smiled. "I read. The Academy had many books on all kinds of subjects, and I decided that if I couldn't fight I would learn instead. That period of time is what led me to become a scientist."

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a scientist," I said. "I like to read, but I read about knights in shining armor. That's what I want to be; what I've _always_ wanted to be."

Mr. DeZwart nodded. "A noble sentiment. If there were more people like you in the world, the Grimm would be far less of a problem, I'd wager," he said.

Now he had my curiosity. "Why is that, Mr. DeZwart?"

"Please, call me Henry. And the reason I say this is because the Grimm are attracted to feelings of negativity. Most people in the world have a lot of negativity in their lives, and they let it be their guide, often unknowingly. They have a goal they wish to attain that is born out of dissatisfaction with their current situation, and they believe their lives will change for the better once they attain it. Even if they help people while reaching for their goal, they still have that negativity inside of them and thus attract the Grimm."

He paused for a moment. "You, however, are different. You say you want to be the knight in shining armor. The one thing that defines such a person is their selflessness. You want to change the world to make it better for everyone else, and not for a personal reason. That very wish speaks of a certain purity that Grimm heavily dislike. While it may not harm them directly, it does seem to make them less likely to seek out such people. For lack of a better phrasing, the Grimm fear people like you."

I didn't respond immediately to Mr. DeZwart's story. I didn't think Grimm had ever acted any differently around me than they did around others.

Mr. DeZwart must have seen I wasn't entirely convinced, because he smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand me, Ruby. The effect I just mentioned, coming from one person, won't stop the Grimm from attacking. Its real power lies in the ability to give hope to others. People like you inspire hope in other people through your attitude. Not only does that make them stronger in a fight, it also takes away the negativity the Grimm feed on. It's like killing two Nevermores with one stone."

I groaned at the lame pun, but inwardly I felt stronger because of what Mr. DeZwart had said. His story made me even more determined to help as many people as I could.

"Well then, Ruby. I think I'll go to bed. Should you need anything, don't hesitate to wake me up. Be warned though, I'm a heavy sleeper, so it might cost you some trouble," Mr. DeZwart said.

"Alright Mr. …Henry. Have a good night," I said.

Mr. DeZwart gave me a nod and walked out the room. I heard the stairs creak as he made his way upstairs. After a few minutes, I heard his bedroom door closing. I sat on the couch watching some TV, but I couldn't help wondering how the others were doing on their mission. What if they ran into trouble? Well, Dr. Oobleck was with them, so they would probably be fine even if the entire White Fang came after them, but still. Like I'd told Mr. DeZwart, I wasn't made to be a scientist. I wanted to fight to make the world a better place, because it's all I knew how to do.

I spotted my backpack on the floor near the living room entrance. I hadn't taken it upstairs yet. My eyes widened when I realized that with my backpack downstairs, I would be able to sneak out once Mr. DeZwart was asleep. If he was really that heavy of a sleeper, the front door probably wouldn't wake him up. I did feel a bit guilty about the plan I'd come up with, though. Mr. DeZwart had been kind enough to let me stay here and even take care of me if I got really sick again. But…I wasn't feeling that sick anymore, and I wanted to help my friends. I got up and looked around the living room and the kitchen for a pen and some paper. Once I'd found some, I wrote a note and placed it on the kitchen table.

" _Dear Henry,_

 _I'm sorry for sneaking out on you, but I can't just leave my friends when they might be in trouble. I hope you're not angry. Thank you for the encouraging story._

 _Ruby"_

I picked up my backpack, silently opened the door and stepped outside. It was still dry, fortunately. I pulled the door closed behind me and set off into the night.

 **A lot of things in this chapter were based on reality. Ruby's dream, for instance, is an adaptation of a fever dream I once had. The TV shows Ruby and Weiss watched were based off things a friend and I saw on TV in Berlin when we were there for the LoL World Championships. The thing about the eggplants wasn't true, but the weird talent show with the off-rhythm audience dancer and the talking brick were real. I looked it up, and the brick is apparently a well-known character in Germany. He's called Bernd das Brot, and he's actually a bread (but since my friend and I thought it was brick at first glance, I made Ruby do the same). The whole 'nerd' thing is on Youtube, and is a bit different from how I described it, but you can look it up. In my opinion, it puts Eraserhead to shame in weirdness. Oh well, don't forget to leave a review, and see you next time!**


	8. Lethal Industry

**Did you see today's episode? Holy shit, that was awesome! I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but what the hell are you doing reading this if you haven't? Go watch, this fic won't go anywhere and it certainly won't match the 'wham episode' nature of today in terms of awesomeness.**

 **Guest, thanks for your elaborate explanation as to what you think defines Ruby as a character. I agree that her naiveté and optimism are core to her character, but unlike you I do think there is more to her, based on the scene in the Emerald Forest with Weiss, Ozpin's remark that her skills are second only to Qrow, who I believe is extremely powerful, and her part of Red Like Roses Part II. Furthermore, I think that while she indeed gets a lot of her wisdom from Ozpin and Weiss, I feel that she really does understand the lessons, and uses them in subsequent decisions, showing she really learned from them. You'll have heard all of this before, of course, so don't see this as an attempt to convince you. I just wanted to briefly share my views on her and these things form the core of them.**

 **Also thank you to everyone else who reviewed last chapter. I hope you will be so kind as to do so yet again. With all of that out of the way, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Eight: Lethal Industry**

The industrial quarter was dark in the distance. That was to be expected, since it was a full two hours before the rally was due to start. We were currently hiding in the grassy field surrounding the industrial area. In contrast to the dried out grass around Vale, this was lush and green, and the ground was so muddy our shoes were sucked into it. At the very least, that meant that I'd have to buy new ones once this mission was over. I wasn't going to be seen running around on muddy shoes.

We had left Mistral City through the northern gate, and made our way to the industrial quarter from outside the city. The industrial quarter itself was located outside the walls of the city, but strategically placed guard towers kept the area relatively safe from Grimm. Since the area we needed to enter was on the very outskirts of the industrial quarter and not within range of the lone guard tower in the area, it had been relatively easy to get this far. If I had to guess, I would say that was how the White Fang had been able to obtain the factory and warehouses to begin with. After all, an area not protected by the guard tower was open to Grimm attacks.

Now, however, the mission had encountered its first difficulties. While we were sneaking ahead, Blake had spotted a guard high up on a walkway near the warehouses we were trying to reach. For a moment, I wondered how the guard could see anything without any light, but then I remembered that Faunus in general have better night vision than Humans do, and the odds the White Fang would post anyone who _didn't_ have excellent night vision on guard duty were slim to none.

"Does Faunus sight have any weaknesses?" I asked Blake.

"Very few, and none we can use if we wish to remain undetected," Blake said grimly.

"What would our options be?" Yang asked.

"Bright lights would hurt their eyes if they're fully accustomed to the dark, as they currently are. Another option is drawing them away with a diversion. Both of these, however, would instantly give away our presence."

"So what can we do, then?" Yang asked.

To my surprise, Blake smiled. "I have night vision too. I can be our eyes and make sure we remain undetected. My ears are pretty good as well."

"That sounds like a good plan, Miss Belladonna, however I have an improvement to make upon it," Dr. Oobleck said. From his backpack, he pulled a set of night vision goggles. "I suggest we split into two teams. We each try a different angle of approach. Our first and foremost priority should be to listen in on the rally itself, but if that proves impossible we should at least attempt to sabotage their equipment. Under no circumstances do you initiate contact with the enemy, but if you are spotted neutralize them ASAP."

I wasn't entirely sure I liked the idea of splitting up. After all, the last time we did that it ended with Ruby getting sick. Not having her on this mission felt strange, and I didn't like it one bit. Still, from a tactical point of view the lack of a single point of failure was sound, and so I couldn't argue with Dr. Oobleck's plan.

"Miss Belladonna, you and Miss Xiao Long shall make an envelopment and approach from the west, whereas Miss Schnee and I shall come in from the north. In the event a retreat becomes necessary, the rendezvous point is the small copse near the start of the marshes, directly west of our current position," Dr. Oobleck said.

I wondered if Dr. Oobleck wanted me to be in his team because of my tactical mistake last time, or simply because he knew Yang and Blake were partners and thus worked well together. Maybe it was a bit of both.

"We begin our approach exactly twenty minutes from now at…" He checked his scroll. "…2020 on the dot, in order to give you time to get into position, so let's synchronize our scrolls. One last thing," Dr. Oobleck said before Blake and Yang could slip away. "In the event you encounter a SNAFU and the situation becomes FUBAR, you have permission to do as much damage as possible before retreating. Make sure that this mission won't be futile."

Yang and Blake gave Dr. Oobleck a weird look because of his choice of words, but then they nodded and stalked off into the night. Dr. Oobleck turned to me. "And now, we wait," he said.

I had the sneaking suspicion that Dr. Oobleck had been really eager to use his military jargon and in particular that expression. He'd used just about every cliché I could think of in those few sentences. I wondered if I should begin addressing him in military jargon as well, just to play along. After all, I'd grown up in Atlas, the most militarized kingdom in all of Remnant. That said, I'd never been part of the military so any attempts I'd make at using their lingo would most likely end in an embarrassment.

Silently we sat crouched in the grass. It gave me plenty of time to think, and most prevalent on my mind was my complete failure to tell Ruby what I felt for her. Sure, there would be other opportunities, but yesterday we'd been alone. Somehow I didn't think that was going to happen all that often anymore on this trip, and the thought of confessing my feelings to Ruby with Yang present wasn't a very pleasant one. Not that I was afraid she'd be against it, mind. No, what I dreaded about that scenario was the hurricane of lame jokes that would follow to my confession. Knowing her, she'd launch right into the most tasteless sex jokes she could think of.

Before my thoughts could go deeper into the gutter than thinking about Yang's jokes, Dr. Oobleck said, "It's time. Stay behind me, and follow my directions immediately and without question"

I nodded once. "Yes, sir."

A salute would probably have been too much, but just this choice of words should at least satisfy Dr. Oobleck's newfound military aspirations. Slowly, we began to creep forward, Dr. Oobleck wearing his night vision goggles. At first, we could creep in a straight line without many difficulties, but then we entered the sight range of another walkway, and we had to adjust our course to remain undetected.

Every now and then, Dr. Oobleck signaled that we had to remain still for a moment, covered by the grass, but I couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. There would have to be a point where we'd need to risk detection and cross open ground. Aside from that, the angle of the walkways in regards to the grass should by now allow the guards to see us, or at least the bend of the grass. Something wasn't feeling right, but we were in too deep to break it off at this point. No alarms had been raised, so presumably we still held the element of surprise. We reached the edge of the grassy area.

"The guard has thus far patrolled in a consistent manner. We should be able to take refuge against the wall of the container tower, directly underneath his walkway. It's a blind spot, because the tower itself blocks the view from the other walkway," Dr. Oobleck whispered.

I nodded. "I'm ready," I whispered back.

Around twenty seconds passed, and then Dr. Oobleck whispered, "Now."

We jogged over to the wall of the large, cylindrical container and pressed up against it. Directly above us, the grated walkway extended around its circumference.

"We shall move around the right side of the container tower. The warehouses are located at the heart of the complex, but there are fewer high structures on the western side," Dr. Oobleck said.

I nodded and wondered if Yang and Blake had managed to infiltrate the compound yet. Considering they had less cover at their disposal, it would be harder for them to get close. Conversely, the relative lack of high structures also meant less high ground for the guards, so the western entry point would likely have more ground-level patrols. We snuck around the container tower, and once we reached the other side we had a view of the back of the warehouses.

According to Dr. Oobleck, the leftmost one was the one where the rally itself would be held, while the other two contained the mechs. It worried me that the White Fang had access to all that technology. Just how deep did their influence run?

Each of the warehouses had a back door with a light above it, in front of which an armed guard was posted. I wondered if the infiltration at the Vale rally by Blake and Sun was to blame for the heightened security here.

"How are we going to get past them?" I whispered to Dr. Oobleck.

Before he could give me an answer, however, another guard approached the warehouses guards. He called the other two over and made a circular gesture with his arm. The warehouse guards nodded and followed the other guard, apparently on a patrol around the warehouses. That was an amazing stroke of luck, and I didn't like it one bit. Still, we couldn't ignore the opportunity. Every moment we lingered here increased our odds of being detected by a patrol. Dr. Oobleck seemed to have the same thought. He looked up through the grated walkway to see the position of the guard stationed up there, and once he had set off in the opposite direction he gestured at me to follow him.

We hurried across the open space to the door to the leftmost warehouse, and Dr. Oobleck tried the knob. The door opened. Another bit of luck. More and more I began to suspect a trap, yet no one awaited us in the small hallway we now found ourselves in and there still wasn't any indication that an alarm had been raised. Still, I had to voice my doubts to Dr. Oobleck.

"Isn't all of this going too smoothly?" I asked him.

He nodded grimly. "I had the same thought, but information can even be obtained from walking into a trap. The trick is to stay alive long enough to make use of it."

That wasn't a very reassuring thought, but it was far too late to back down now. We snuck through the hallway, which had one side path with an office to the right, and sanitary facilities to the left. At the end of the main hallway was another door. We went through it and ended up behind a makeshift stage. A small staircase led up to it, and the structure underneath was hidden by curtains. An ideal hiding spot. This was the fourth suspiciously lucky break we got. The trap was obviously ready. Now it was up to us to set it off. I sincerely hoped Dr. Oobleck had an escape plan ready as he and I crawled through the curtains to hide in the structure of metal struts that supported the stage.

We sat in the dark, waiting for something to happen. Nothing is more harrowing than knowing something will happen, just not when. Time passed frustratingly slowly. Each moment, I expected White Fang guards to show up with weapons trained at us, but nothing of the sort happened. After what felt like an hour of waiting, I heard the main doors of the warehouse open and tensed up. Was this the moment? Were the White Fang going to spring their trap? But no gunfire sounded. Instead, I heard casual conversation. Apparently the attendees of the rally were coming in.

I wondered where Yang and Blake were hidden, and if they'd even made it to the warehouses in the first place. Then again, I didn't know the layout of the interior of the warehouse. They could be anywhere. Blake might even be among the crowd, considering she was a Faunus. I took deep breaths as I heard the warehouse fill with both existing and new White Fang members.

At long last, I heard someone walking up the steps to the stage. The murmuring in the warehouse died off, and the person on stage began to speak. "Brothers and sisters, I bid you welcome to this event. Throughout Remnant, our ranks are swelling. For the newcomers among you, you have made the right choice to stand against the tyranny and oppression of the Humans. Too long have they trod on our pride as Faunus, but at long last the day is at hand where we shall take what is rightfully ours."

The speaker was silent for a moment. There was something about his voice. It sounded slightly musical, and I'd heard it before.

"In the warehouses next to this one, we have a supply of Atlesian mechs. While we only have relatively few at the moment, you can rest assured that as our numbers grow, so shall the amount of equipment we have access to." There were some incredulous noises from the crowd. "I understand your disbelief, friends. I, too, once underestimated the power we wield. But I do not expect mere words to convince you. As a full-fledged member of the White Fang, you will bear witness to our might firsthand. The Mistral kingdom is just the beginning. From the southern swamps, we shall bring down the decadence of the Human rule here in the east of Remnant. The day of reckoning is near, but before we can get to that…there is a more urgent matter to attend to."

Once again the speaker fell silent. I looked at Dr. Oobleck. In the gloom, I saw that he had the same thought. The fight was about to begin.

"For we are not alone. Our enemy is among us. More than that, they are hiding beneath this very stage. I advise that you come out of hiding, if you wish to remain alive. No amount of Aura will protect you from all our guns," the speaker said menacingly.

Dr. Oobleck made a motion with his head, telling me to follow him. I hoped for both our sakes he knew what he was doing. We climbed out from our hiding place back into the backstage area. Six guards were waiting for us and led us up the stage. On the stage, the speaker was waiting for us. He wore a full face mask, but when I saw the wolf ears I immediately recognized him. Cyril Cyano, the owner of the Blue Leaf. It appeared the recognition was mutual, because his body tensed up when he looked at me. Then, he began to laugh.

"I should have known you were among the spies, Ice Queen." He looked around. "Where's your little friend? Not hiding somewhere else, I hope?"

"Neither my associate nor I have anything to say to terrorists," Dr. Oobleck said.

Cyano scoffed. "Take pride in your bravery while it lasts, Human scum. We have ways of making you talk, and now is the excellent time to demonstrate them."

He gestured at his guards. I only now noticed that they weren't carrying regular assault rifles. My eyes widened when I realized what they were holding. Atlesian Aura suppressor rifles. They fired bolts of electromagnetic energy that could essentially shot-circuit a target's Aura, leaving them entirely helpless. They had originally been designed for use by police forces because they were non-lethal and useless against Grimm, but their use was banned after it was discovered a minor adjustment could make them excruciatingly painful and cause them to leave lasting nerve damage. How did the White Fang manage to obtain those weapons?

The guards leveled the rifles. I would perhaps be able to take out before they fired, and Dr. Oobleck would certainly match that, but that still left two guards, plus Cyano, plus all the other armed guards in the warehouse and the crowd. Dr. Oobleck, however, didn't look worried at all. When Cyano raised his arm to give the order to fire, I learned why.

"Hey, bastards, look alive!"

Everyone present in the warehouse looked at the source of the voice. In the rafters of the warehouse stood Yang and Blake, ready to leap down. As soon as they had all eyes on them, they jumped down onto the stage and attacked the guards. I didn't hesitate and drew Myrtenaster, while Dr. Oobleck extended his fiery thermos.

"Kill them!" Cyano roared at the surprised crowd.

While the White Fang members in the crowd drew their weapons, Dr. Oobleck fired several fireballs into their midst, causing them to scatter like bowling pins.

"We need to destroy the mechs," he told us. "We're going straight through the walls. Miss Xiao Long?"

Yang nodded. "Got it, Doc."

"You're not going anywhere," Cyano said. He raised his suppressor rifle, but before he could shoot I'd summoned a glyph and blown him off the stage.

"That's really becoming a habit of his," I remarked to no one in particular, to the general confusion of my teammates.

We fought our way through the White Fang members until we reached the wall. Yang flared up her Semblance and punched a massive hole into the adjacent warehouse, where the mechs were stored.

"Quickly, destroy as many as you can," Dr. Oobleck ordered. He gave the example by firing a massive fireball at the closest mech, engulfing it in flames. I spun the Dust chamber on Myrtenaster and selected my trusty ice Dust, using it to encase one of the mechs in a block of ice. While it might not total the mech, it would at the very least cause significant damage to the most delicate and important systems. Yang used her Semblance's power to destroy all the armaments on yet another mech, while Blake, ever the subtle one of us, used Gambol Shroud's blades to slice apart the hydraulics of her target, leaving most of it intact, yet wholly unusable.

Behind us, the White Fang were filing into the warehouse. I sent a wall of ice their way in an attempt to seal up the hole and impede them, while Dr. Oobleck used his fireballs to blow out the front doors of this warehouse.

"Girls, out, now!"

We wasted no time in obeying Dr. Oobleck's orders and we ran outside into the cool night air, which was promptly rent apart by a missile that came straight at us. Before it could reach us, however, Dr. Oobleck had sent a veritable wall of fire its way, destroying it in mid-flight. Through the clouds of smoke I could vaguely see the outline of a mech, cutting off our escape route to the south.

"West!" Dr. Oobleck ordered, and we ran after him…right into another mech that approached from the side.

"We're surrounded," Blake said.

"That would indeed appear to be the case," Dr. Oobleck commented dryly.

"What do we do?" Yang asked.

"We go north. We may be able to use the container towers as shields while we make our escape," Dr. Oobleck said.

He fired several fireballs at the western mech, and we followed him, fighting the White Fang guards that were still coming from the warehouses as we went. They didn't worry us nearly as much as the mechs did, however.

"Around the towers, quickly," Dr. Oobleck said.

We fought our way around the container towers, but when we reached the other side we were greeted by yet another mech, which immediately opened fire with its machinegun. We scattered to avoid being hit, staying in motion to deny the targeting system an easy kill.

"I'll distract it, get to the rendezvous point," Dr. Oobleck ordered.

But before he could fire, a rifle's report sounded clearly through the night. Sparks flew off the mech in front of us, and it was forced back a bit from the power of the impacts. The sound of those shots…the power of the rounds…those shots could only come from one gun I knew.

Again, the rifle fired, forcing the mech back another step. It looked around, its pilot desperately trying to find his assailant.

"Up there," Blake said, pointing at the walkway around one of the container towers. It was too dark to make out much, but in the lights of the fire I could see the shape of giant scythe.

"Ruby!"

As if she'd been waiting for us to notice her, she leapt down from the tower and attacked the mech with Crescent Rose's scythe form.

Dr. Oobleck was the first to recover his wits. "Run, you know where to go," he said. "I will assist your leader. That girl will give me an ulcer one day."

It didn't feel right leaving Ruby behind again, but I knew Dr. Oobleck would get them out, so I ran. Yang and Blake were right behind me. We dashed through the field, miraculously not followed by the White Fang members who were probably still trying to kill Ruby and Dr. Oobleck.

We reached the copse and made our way into the group of trees. "Now what?" I asked.

"There's a small rocky overhang near the far side of the trees, essentially a small cave," Blake said. "It will be our camp tonight."

"Won't the White Fang follow us out here?" I asked.

Blake shook her head. "The White Fang have always focused on the bigger picture. If their prey escapes, they'll simply get back to their regular plans. They feel they'll win the fight one day anyway, and then they'll have their revenge."

I scoffed. "Modest, aren't they?"

"Humans don't have the best track record either, you know," Blake retorted angrily.

"Guys, it's no use if we start fighting," Yang said, stepping in between Blake and me.

I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Blake. I'm just a bit stressed out," I said.

"Yeah, me too. Sorry, Weiss," Blake replied.

We reached the small rocky overhang. It would provide us with protection from three sides, while the person on guard duty could sit on top of the overhang to oversee the swamp that stretched out beyond the trees. We put our equipment in the cave. The floor was muddy, but at least we had cover. Yang gathered firewood and I used some fire Dust to light it.

We'd just gotten the campfire going when Ruby and Dr. Oobleck reached us.

"Sis!" Yang said. "How did you find us?"

Dr. Oobleck answered instead of Ruby. "It appears she felt she couldn't just let us do this on our own, so she snuck out of Henry's house and made her way here. When she arrived, we had already started fighting. Because all the guards had come down to help, she was able to gain high ground and saw the mechs coming out."

Ruby took over the story. "I wanted to help sooner, but you kept changing direction. With that last one, I knew it was now or never, so I shot."

Dr. Oobleck looked at her. "You have disobeyed direct orders in coming here. This time it worked out, but this behavior cannot continue, Miss Rose. I want your word that from now on, you will not make such decisions on your own. Should you break that promise I will have no choice but to have you sent back to Beacon," he said.

Ruby sighed. "I know. I promise I won't act on my own anymore," she said.

Dr. Oobleck nodded. "Then I will trust you. Please, Ruby, do not break that trust."

Ruby looked into Dr. Oobleck's eyes. "I promise, Dr. Oobleck."

"Good. With that out of the way, let's get settled in for the night. I shall take first watch. Miss Xiao Long, can you take the second watch?"

Yang nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Dr. Oobleck grabbed his thermos and stepped outside. The rest of us stayed in the little cave. The fire smoked heavily, because the wood was wet, but at least the smoke got away through small cracks in the ceiling.

"Sis, you were really cool just now," Yang said. "Sure, it was dangerous, but you totally saved our butts out there."

Ruby chuckled. "Thanks, Yang. I'm glad I came on time."

"So are we, sis, so are we."

Not too long afterward, we were all lying around the fire on our mats, trying to get some sleep.

* * *

After I had my watch and sent Ruby out, I stared into the fire for a bit, warming myself after the cold watch. No Grimm had shown up, fortunately. As I gazed into the dancing flames, I realized something. Everyone was asleep, except for Ruby and me. When she returned from her watch and sent Blake out…I would finally have a chance to talk to her. My heart began to beat faster when I considered it, but I knew that now was as good a time as any. I had to get it off my chest, or it would continue to haunt my thoughts. As soon as Ruby got back…I was going to tell her how I felt.

 **So, the time has come. Weiss will finally confess her feelings to Ruby. How will that turn out? I think you know damn well how it will turn out…so I hope to see you next time, when the White Rose really gets off the ground. Don't forget to leave a review, and see you next time!**


	9. At Last

**I can honestly say I'm proud of the first part of the chapter. The second part…well…you'll see that when you get there. It had to be done, but for the life of me I had no clue how to do it. Any pointers for future moments of that same kind would be greatly appreciated. Also, just because I'm rather proud of the first part of this chapter doesn't mean you have to go easy on it. Feel free to tear it a new one, if you can provide me with some solid reasons for it. I always seek to better myself, so don't hold back. Only criticism brings improvement. With that out of the way, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Nine: At Last**

The night was cold. Despite the darkness, I could see my breath forming little white clouds in front of my face. Behind me, the smoke of our campfire came out through cracks in the rock that made up the roof of our little cave. I looked out over the swamp through Crescent Rose's scope. Nothing moved, other than some grass gently swaying in the wind. Just to be sure, I kept my aim focused on it for a moment to see if any Grimm would come out of it, but nothing happened. I lowered Crescent Rose and sighed. Watch duty was necessary, but on nights like these it was pretty boring. Then again, that was probably a good thing. At least we'd all be able to get enough sleep tonight. There were probably more than enough nights to come where we wouldn't get so lucky.

My scroll beeped once. I got up and stretched. My watch was over, now it was Blake's turn to gaze over the swamp for a few hours while nothing interesting whatsoever happened. I made my way down, already looking forward to the warming fire and some nice sleep. I almost wished I was still feeling sick, so I could ask Weiss to stroke my hair again, but she was probably asleep anyway. I entered the cave and gently shook Blake to wake her up.

"My turn?" she asked as soon as she was awake. I nodded, and Blake got up to make room for me.

As soon as Blake had left the cave, Weiss whispered, "Ruby? Can we…can we talk for a moment?"

She sat up now, facing the fire. Had she been waiting for me to finish my watch? I was curious, so I sat down right next to her so we could be as quiet as possible to not wake anyone up.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

Weiss didn't look directly at me. Instead, she kept watching the flames. "The other day, when we were in that restaurant…do you remember what that waiter said to us?" she asked.

How could I have forgotten that? That, more than anything else, made me realize my crush on her. My heart started beating a little faster, but I tried to ignore it. Weiss probably said this for some other reason.

"I remember," I said.

Weiss swallowed. "Well, I, um, I was thinking about that, and…" She paused, finally turning away from the fire to look into my eyes. "Ruby, I think I've fallen in love with you."

I felt pinpricks all over my body and my heart now beat faster than the White Fang's machineguns. I was so stunned by what Weiss had just said I couldn't find the words to reply immediately. Weiss went on talking. "I realize you probably don't feel the same way, and I don't want this to change anything between us, but…"

"Weiss." She stopped talking when I said her name. I smiled at her. "I _do_ feel the same way," I said.

She blinked a couple of times. "You…you do?" she asked.

I nodded. I looked into her eyes. Her beautiful, blue eyes. I wasn't sure what to do now. I'd never liked someone like this. I'd never had someone tell me they liked _me_ like this. I began to lean closer to Weiss, slowly, hesitantly. She did the same thing. We kept looking into each other's eyes as our faces moved closer together. My heart was racing, and all kinds of thoughts went through my head. What if I'm a horrible kisser? What if I've got bad breath? What if…? I ignored the thoughts, drowned them out just by looking into Weiss's eyes as we got closer and closer still. She closed her eyes. I closed mine.

When my lips brushed hers, I felt like a shock ran through my entire body. I leaned in just a little bit more. Her lips were so soft, so warm, so nice. She smelled like the smoke of the fire, but beneath that I could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo. Nothing mattered right then but her, and the feeling of our lips touching. The Grimm didn't matter, the White Fang didn't matter…if the world had ended right at that moment, I wouldn't have noticed. I don't know how long we stayed liked that. It might have only been a few seconds, or it might have been hours. If it were up to me it would last forever.

Eventually, though, we pulled apart and opened our eyes, once again looking at each other. It was hard to see in the light of the fire, but I was sure we were both blushing like crazy.

"That was amazing," I whispered. Probably the most dorky thing I could have said right then, but it was the first thing that came to my mind.

"Was this your first kiss?" Weiss asked.

I nodded. "Was it yours?" I asked.

"No, but it was my first one with you…and it was definitely the best first kiss I've had," Weiss said.

"That was incredibly sappy," I told her. I loved the sappiness, but I just couldn't resist teasing her a bit.

"I was trying to be sweet, you dolt," Weiss said.

I wrapped my arms around her. "You're cute when you're annoyed," I said with a smile, nuzzling up to her as close as I could get. Now that I was over my insecurity I was back to my regular self…and now I actually had a reason to hug Weiss.

Weiss still acted huffy, but since she now had her arms around me as well I figured she was just doing it on principle.

"I was actually afraid you wouldn't feel the same way," Weiss whispered. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to be around me if you didn't, but I just had to say it."

I squeezed her closer to me. "I'm glad you did. I thought you liked Neptune and I was happy just being your friend, but I like this even better," I said.

"I did like Neptune…but when I began thinking about it I realized that you were the one with whom I wanted to be." It was just like Weiss to announce something like that so dryly she might have been giving a weather forecast. Still, that was just the way she was. I wouldn't have it any other way. "But the same went for me, you know," Weiss said. "I mean, I wasn't even sure you were into girls in the first place."

I shrugged, which is a pretty hard thing to do with your arms around someone. "I wasn't sure what I was into either," I said. "But I have always liked a lot of things about _you_. Like your confidence, and the fancy words you like to use. I even like the fact that you're a lefty like me," I went on, waving my left hand in front of her face for a moment before putting it back around her.

"You really like something so insignificant?" Weiss asked.

"Yup," I said cheerfully.

"You dolt," Weiss said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Yup," I repeated, just as cheerfully as before. "But I'm _your_ dolt," I added.

"Yes you are," Weiss agreed.

For a moment we just sat there, enjoying the embrace were in. I closed my eyes. I heard Weiss's heartbeat through her chest. It was a very soothing sound to listen to. It was so comfortable I could've easily fallen asleep cuddled up with Weiss.

"So…does this mean you're my girlfriend now?" I asked, to keep myself awake.

Weiss nodded. I still had my eyes closed, but I could feel the movement. "Yes, Ruby, I'm your girlfriend now," she said. "And you're mine," she added. She sounded like she was very proud of that.

It was hard to believe that the girl who couldn't stand me at first was now my girlfriend, but here I was, with my arms around her and hers around me, half asleep next to a campfire.

"I think we should try to get some sleep," Weiss said.

"Can I stay with you?" I asked sleepily.

Weiss was silent for a moment. She seemed to hesitate, but then she said, "Yes. You can stay with me. Just give me a moment to lie down."

Unwillingly, I let go of Weiss so she could get into a sleeping position. I lay down next to her and wrapped myself around her again, burying my face in her hair.

"Good night, Weiss," I mumbled.

"Good night, Ruby," she whispered back. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, it took me a moment to realize I wasn't alone on the camping mat. Then, the memory of the night before hit me and I sat up excitedly…and saw Yang looking at me with a huge grin on her face. A grin she would refer to as a, well…you know, let's just say it was a huge grin.

"Good morning, sis," she said suspiciously cheerfully.

"Good morning?" I replied uncertainly.

"So how was your night?" she asked.

"Um…"

Yang's grin got even bigger. It's a miracle it still fit on her face.

Now Weiss began to wake up as well. "What's with all the…?"

"Good morning, Weiss," Yang said, in the same cheerful tone she'd been using to talk to me.

Weiss immediately sat up straight. "Oh God no," she said.

"Why so apprehensive, Weiss?" Yang asked. "It's not like I'll send the pictures I took while you were all cuddled up to Team JNPR…oh wait, I just did."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Weiss exploded, and she jumped forward to strangle Yang.

"How did you even have range here?" Blake, who had so far kept out of the conversation, asked.

Holding Weiss away from her with one arm, Yang replied, "We're close enough to Mistral City." Her scroll beeped. "Oh look, it's from Pyrrha. She says she's really happy for Ruby and Weiss, and that Jaune bashed his head against the wall when he saw the picture. Sounds about right," she said. "I bet Pyrrha was really overjoyed to see it, though. Maybe Jaune will finally give her some attention now," she went on.

Weiss gave up her attempts at murdering Yang, and instead settled for giving her a death glare. To be totally honest, that had gone better than I'd expected. At least Yang didn't begin about…

"So when are you going to do it? At least you don't have to worry about unwanted pregnancies," Yang said.

I groaned loudly and pulled my hood over my face. "Yang! I _so_ don't want to hear this," I said.

"But why not?" Yang asked. "After all, it's natural for you to have certain…interests, certain…curiosities."

I shuddered and hid deeper in my hood, but Weiss had a very different reaction.

"YANG XIAO LONG, I WILL END YOU!" Weiss lunged forward again while Yang roared with laughter.

"Good morning, ladies. What is going on here?" Dr. Oobleck asked from the entrance of the cave.

"Weiss is attempting to murder Yang," Blake said dryly.

"Yes, so it would appear. May I ask why? And while we're at it, why is Miss Rose hiding behind her hood?" Dr. Oobleck asked, entirely ignoring the fight between Yang and Weiss.

"I was just making some jokes," Yang told Dr. Oobleck.

"You had your mind in the gutter, you insufferable pervert," Weiss protested.

"I'm not the one who wants to get freaky with a fifteen year-old girl, though," Yang pointed out.

"I am not 'getting freaky' with anyone!" Weiss yelled. "We kissed exactly _once_ , if you must know, and I'm perfectly fine with taking this slowly."

"Weiss, please don't give her more material," I pleaded from behind my hood. But of course, my warning came too late.

"Oh, so you like to make love slowly? Like how, with a nice jazzy tune?" Yang said.

If I could've gone straight through the muddy ground I would have done it.

"Miss Xiao Long, while I appreciate a good joke every now and then, I must ask you to stop antagonizing Miss Schnee," Dr. Oobleck said. "And Miss Schnee, murdering your teammate would be counterproductive, so I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from doing so."

He didn't raise his voice at all when he said those words, but the authority in them was so absolute that both Weiss and Yang immediately stopped their fight.

"Thank you. Now, then, I inferred from all of this that Miss Schnee and Miss Rose seem to have entered into a romantic relationship. Am I correct in that?" I looked at Weiss, and then we both nodded.

Dr. Oobleck's face remained expressionless, and for a moment I thought he was going to scold us for it, but then he smiled widely and said, "How amazing! It's always great to see young love blooming! Congratulations to the two of you!"

"Uh, thanks, Dr. Oobleck," I said uncertainly.

"Yes, thank you," Weiss said as well, still giving Yang an angry look.

Yang raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I really am happy for you two. I just…got carried away a little. Sorry about that. I can't make any promises not to joke about it again, though," she said, again with a grin.

Weiss grumbled something, but I smiled at Yang to show her I wasn't angry. Horribly embarrassed, maybe, but not angry. I was actually glad that she was so supportive of it. Yang's opinion means a lot to me, and if she had been against it, it just wouldn't have felt right.

"I'm happy for you as well," Blake said. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Now then, with that taken care of, we still have a mission to worry about," Dr. Oobleck said, getting down to business. "First of all, I want to discuss what went wrong last night. Somehow, they knew we were coming."

"There was a good reason for that," Blake said. "I heard one of the guards on patrol mentioning that a light was seen in the field, and that it was immediately assumed we were infiltrators because people had been asking around town about the rally."

Dr. Oobleck stroked his chin. "A light, you say?"

Blake nodded. "I think I know what it was. You checked your scroll, and they must have seen that."

Dr. Oobleck blinked a couple of times. "How could have I been so careless?! Of course their sensitive eyes would have seen it. That means we were found out before we even got close," he said.

"Not entirely," Yang objected. "Yes, you and Weiss were spotted, but they didn't know we would be coming from two angles. And because they already knew you were coming from the north, they didn't bother keeping a good watch on everything else."

"It has always been a weakness of the more militant members of the White Fang," Blake took over. "They see themselves as so superior to Humans, they can easily be tricked if they believe they have the upper hand."

Dr. Oobleck nodded. "I see. Then can it be assumed that the information they gave the recruits at the rally was legitimate?" he asked.

Blake nodded. "I think so. Adam is one of the few members of the White Fang who knows better than to give his enemies real information. The guy who held yesterday's rally was one of the many with near suicidal overconfidence."

Weiss scoffed. "He has absolutely no spine whatsoever," she said angrily. "Who in their right mind would give him command over anything?"

Blake surprised everyone by laughing at that question. "They actually do that on purpose," she said. "At each rally, there are a few good fighters, but generally the spokespeople are just there to rile up the crowd. They're not selected for their competence. There was a time when the speakers at rallies were the smartest of us, with the best education, but the new leader abolished that because charisma brought in more cannon fodder." She clenched her fists. "Everything that was good and noble about the White Fang was destroyed by the new regime."

Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder. "We'll stop them, Blake. That's our mission, isn't it?" she asked Dr. Oobleck.

"Not precisely," Dr. Oobleck answered. "We know that Roman Torchwick worked with the White Fang, so we feel someone else is pulling their strings. However, the White Fang are currently the only lead we have. If our enemy is pulling their strings, we must keep tracking down the White Fang."

I looked at Weiss while Dr. Oobleck was still talking about how vital it was to keep tracking the White Fang. She noticed me looking at her, and I smiled. She smiled back at me. In my head, I flashed back to our first, and so far only, kiss. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it.

Dr. Oobleck was still talking about the White Fang, and from what I could tell he was pretty much on repeat at this point. "So, Dr. Oobleck, what will our next move be?" I asked him.

Dr. Oobleck stopped his monologue, and my teammates seemed grateful that I had stopped him. "They mentioned having a base in the southern swamps. That, then, will be our next destination. Now, the southern swamps are big and home to many amphibious Grimm. We shall have to be on our guard at all times. Are you all ready for this task?" he asked, looking at each of us in turn.

"I'm always ready," Yang said cockily.

Blake just nodded.

"I'm ready, too," Weiss said.

"Where Weiss goes, I go as well," I said, earning myself a painfully sweet 'Awwwwww' from Yang.

I ignored my sister and stood next to Weiss, who had begun to blush at my remark. Dr. Oobleck nodded in approval. "Very well then. We shall set off to the southern swamps immediately."

 **Shortest chapter thus far, woohoo. I'm sorry for that exposition dump. I just wanted to briefly explain why the White Fang knew the group was coming, and why Yang and Blake weren't detected, as well as giving the next marker for the plot. Aside from that, a small word of warning. With the first kiss done, this fic will gradually start moving toward the moment where the M rating it's had since Chapter One will finally come into play. It won't be for a while yet, but I figured I'd warn you early. Don't forget to leave a review and again, if you have any tips on avoiding exposition dumps like this one, don't hesitate to tell me. See you next time!**


	10. The Southern Swamp

**First off, a household notice: Tomorrow, my girlfriend, who is studying abroad, will come back home for two weeks. During that time I want to be with her as much as I can, and because of that this will be the last update for this year. The next one should be up January 4** **th** **, if all goes well.**

 **To Guest: I agree with you about the importance of the words 'I love you', and that's why neither Weiss nor Ruby said them. Weiss came closest with 'I think I've fallen in love with you', but that's still hesitant and relatively restrained. Ruby called it a crush, but she admitted to never having one before, so she wasn't sure. The kiss began hesitantly from Ruby's side, the cuddling and sleeping thing was more hesitant from Weiss's side. They certainly do love each other, but neither wants to say the words yet, each for her own reasons. Weiss's reason is actually explained in this chapter, and Ruby's will follow in due time. The moments they** _ **do**_ **feel it's the time to say it will actually be very significant to the story.**

 **To everyone else who reviewed: Thank you very much, I appreciate it a lot. So, let me know what you think again this chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Ten: The Southern Swamp**

I was profoundly tired of the swamp. That was a bit of an issue, because we'd only just begun our exploration of it. The scenery was impossibly dreary, with shoots of long grass and reeds interspersed with pools of fetid water and treacherous pools of mud everywhere. In the distance I could see the trees, which were scarce now, growing denser.

The worst, however, were the Grimm. They were lizard-like, if lizards were black, had a row of white spines along their backs and wore white bony masks. Oh yeah, and they were roughly the size of Beowolves. Dr. Oobleck said they were called Laceratilia, singular Laceratilium. They hid beneath the surface of the muddy waters, with only the tips of their spines barely visible above the water. Whenever we got anywhere near them, they would lunge out and attack with their claws and teeth. They weren't powerful, but they were incredibly numerous, and being on a constant lookout for ambushes was far more draining than open battle would have been.

"Just how many of these things are there?" Yang asked after punching yet another Laceratilium back into its pond with Ember Celica. She sounded about as annoyed as I felt.

"I'm afraid Laceratilia are among the most common kinds of Grimm, Miss Xiao Long," Dr. Oobleck replied. "They are drawn to swamps and marshes because many careless travelers have perished there, and the lingering traces of their dying emotions sustain the Grimm, who in turn are responsible for even more deaths. It's a vicious cycle."

Yang made a disgusted sound. "You know, I love to fight, but these little creeps take all the fun out of it," she said.

We began to walk again. Soon, we would reach the tree line…and things would get even worse. According to Dr. Oobleck Laceratilia didn't just enjoy being submerged, they could also climb trees with their curved claws. Then they would leap down onto unsuspecting travelers and drag them underwater, or simply maul them and let them bleed to death. The notion that we could ambushed from _two_ directions instead of just one really didn't make me any happier.

I felt a warm hand grabbing mine and I was shaken from my dark musings. I looked up to see Ruby smiling brightly at me. Despite my mood, I smiled back at her. It was a strange thought that she was my girlfriend now. The memory of our kiss was still very fresh in my mind. Ruby had laughed at it, but I really meant what I told her; she was the best first kiss I'd ever had. Still, I had been careful not to say _those_ words. 'I love you'. Simple words, but to me they meant more than that. Their use implied a certain…emotional openness that I simply didn't have. To say them now would be unfair to Ruby; after all I hadn't even told her anything about my past yet and I still didn't want to. If I couldn't do that much, then how I could I truly say I loved her? I would have to become more open before I could make such a claim.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Ruby asked. "You look so pencil," she went on.

"Pencil? What on Remnant are you…? Oh, _pensive_ ," I said, catching on to Ruby's mispronunciation. At least she got the meaning right, though. "When did I ever use that word around you?" I wondered aloud. "But in any case, I was just thinking about this loathsome swamp," I said. No need to tell her about my difficulties talking about myself. I was aware of the contradiction in my thoughts and actions, but I sealed it away, like I did with everything else that bothered me. "I can't imagine anyone in their right minds building a base here," I went on.

"You'd be surprised at the places the White Fang built bases," Blake said. "Don't forget, the one we've been to was built to house civilians. Their normal hideouts are smaller and generally hidden in places people don't accidentally wander across. Deep within a swamp would be a prime location for them."

"I thought they began as a peaceful group," I said. "Why would a group advocating peace need hidden bases?"

Blake looked embarrassed. "We've always had a militant factions of those who felt violence was the only option if the Humans were to take us seriously. They were the ones who built the hidden bases. After the shift in leadership, they became the rule, rather than the exception."

There used to be a time when Blake was just as reserved about her past as I was. But now, she was talking about the White Fang as if it didn't bother her at all. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was a strain in her voice despite her ostensibly casual attitude. But even so, she had apparently gotten herself over the reluctance to speak about her past and was now openly sharing it with us. The ironic part, of course, is that I was the person who had admonished her to do so in the first place, yet I was now the one unable to speak up about it. Why? Was it because I felt Blake's problems were somehow less personal than my own? Or was it because my past wasn't an active danger to my friends and me? I tried to clench my fists, as I usually did when I was apprehensive about something, only to find that I was still holding Ruby's hand.

"Something wrong?" she asked, picking up on the squeeze of my hand. Now was my chance to tell her what was wrong. All I had to do was say that I was thinking about my family and then I could tell Ruby and the others everything. "No, nothing's wrong." Bitterly disappointed in myself, I kept walking.

* * *

We were now in a part of the swamp where the trees were blocking out the pale sunlight. Laceratilia were attacking from all conceivable angles not a minute went by where we weren't swinging our weapons, more in annoyance than actual concern. Then, however, we came to an area where all of the attacks just…stopped. Nothing seemed to have changed in the scenery, but for some reason all the Grimm simply vanished.

"Where did they all go?" Yang asked suspiciously. We hadn't encountered any Laceratilia for nearly ten minutes at this point.

"I'm uncertain," Dr. Oobleck replied. "I have never heard of areas in any swampland where Laceratilia aren't abundant. Still, we should be grateful for the moments of respite and keep going."

Somehow, the eerie quiet around us was far more frightening than any number of Grimm could possibly have been, and I kept my hand on Myrtenaster's hilt, expecting an ambush at every tree we passed.

"This is weirding me out," Ruby said. She had Crescent Rose sheathed, but she was clearly ready to fight, as I was.

"Dr. Oobleck, could they be setting up an ambush?" I asked.

"They have never been known to cooperate with one another. Their methods of engagements have never once differed in all the years we've known about them," Dr. Oobleck said. I noticed that he hadn't actually answered my question, and that did very little to improve the feeling I had.

Suddenly Blake stopped walking and gestured at the rest of us to stay still as well. "What is it, Miss Belladonna?" Dr. Oobleck whispered.

Blake didn't reply immediately. Instead, she looked up. Her eyes widened. "In the trees!" I looked up just in time to see the net fall over my head.

* * *

"What is your purpose here?"

The man addressing us was a Faunus with a thick, bushy beard just as long as his messy hair. The only reason I knew he was a Faunus at all were his sharp claws. He wasn't very tall, but he was very muscular. He wore an outfit that apparently been woven from tough, stringy swamp plants. As soon as the nets had fallen over us, we'd drawn our weapons to slice them apart, but they were coated in a sticky residue that covered our blades and stuck to our bodies. It didn't take our attackers long to subdue us after that, remove our weapons and tie us up with the same sticky vines.

Then they had dragged us up into the trees, where a village had been built in the interlocking branches. Narrow walkways with rickety railings connected the trees with one another, and small treehouses made up most of the village. Some of the treehouses were slightly larger than the others. I had noticed that everyone in the village was a Faunus. I guessed the man now addressing us was their leader. We were all lined up in front of him, Dr. Oobleck in the middle, Ruby and I to his left, and Yang and Blake to his right.

"We are Hunters from Beacon Academy in Vale, and we are on a mission to discover the origin of the creatures of Grimm," Dr. Oobleck said. I think this marked the first occasion that cover story had seen any use.

"You will find no answers here, if lies are all you are here to bring," the leader said with an angry look on his face. This would be the first occasion of our cover story falling apart. "Do not make the mistake of believing we didn't hear you talking about the White Fang. Now I ask you again: what is your purpose here? Why do you seek the ones who have brought disgrace to their heritage?"

Dr. Oobleck sighed. "Very well. Our purpose is to locate the White Fang base. We believe they represent a threat to all of Remnant, and we were sent to prevent that."

The village leader didn't respond immediately. At least this time he didn't dismiss our story right off the bat. Finally, he spoke up. "You could not even defend yourselves against us. The White Fang have weapons far superior to ours. We have a treetop village. They have a treetop fortress. You delude yourself if you believe you can even get inside."

"How will we know if we don't even try?" Ruby asked.

"Child, I have seen the White Fang hideout. It is much smaller than this village, but it is extraordinarily well defended. They have automatic turrets set up, hidden between the branches. Their guards are all arboreal and they know the trees well. If anything comes within a thousand meters in any direction of their hideout, they know about it. To go there of your own volition is a death sentence."

"Still our choice, though," Yang said bluntly. "So if you could just untie us and point us in the right direction, that'd be much appreciated."

The leader sighed and shook his head. "Why? Why are you so intent on throwing away your life?"

Ruby smiled at him. "Because we're Huntresses, and helping people is what we do."

The leader's eyes widened subtly at those words. He gave a nod to someone behind us, and I felt the vines around me loosen.

"If that sticky gunk doesn't wash out, I'm sending you the bill," I said angrily, once I'd been set free. My bolero had a dark, sticky layer on it where the vines had been. At least they had had the decency to clean off Myrtenaster.

Once we had all been cut loose, the leader said, "My name is Basil, and I lead this hidden Faunus village. It was built more than two decades ago…by the original White Fang."

* * *

We sat in the village's central hall, located in the largest treehouse. This seemed to be the place where the villagers came to eat, since a number of tables were spread throughout the hall. The tables and chairs were all made from the wood of the indigenous trees. It was a miracle they hadn't cleared away the entire forest yet. We were currently occupying the largest table, together with Basil.

"When the White Fang was first created, the tensions between Humans and Faunus were still high. It was shortly after the war and a lot of hatred festered. This drew the Grimm in large quantities, and as is always the case, the innocents were the ones who suffered."

He looked at all of us before continuing. "The White Fang rose up to protect the innocent. They were always finding new ways to help, and to make life easier. Many Faunus, however, didn't want to go back to society. They wished to seclude themselves from the politics and live a peaceful life. Here, too, the White Fang was prepared to help. They constructed this village as a safe haven for those who had grown disillusioned by life in the kingdoms."

His face darkened. "But the White Fang has betrayed what it once was. They went from noble to savage, and now they are worse monsters than the Grimm. We have been able to defend this village from the Grimm with relative ease, because we're so deep in the swamp that few people have died here and the negative emotions are not as strong. Our sense of hope and safety here played a part in that as well. But now, the White Fang have set up camp. The number of Grimm has increased dramatically because they brought hate with them, and soon we will be overrun. If you truly desire to stop the White Fang, we will detail to you the location of their base, and how to reach it from the trees."

Dr. Oobleck bowed his head in gratitude. "We would be most obliged," he said. He turned to us. "I have a few questions about the local history, but I highly doubt you will be interested in that. Why don't you explore the village and talk to some of the locals? I will come and find you when it is time for us to head out again."

Ruby, Yang, and I stood up, but Blake remained seated. "I…I'd like to hear some more history as well," she said. By the way she said history, I immediately knew she wanted to learn more about the original White Fang.

Dr. Oobleck seemed to catch on as well, because he nodded and said, "Very well."

Yang, Ruby, and I headed outside, where Yang immediately went off to meet the locals, "So you two lovebirds can be alone for a moment." Despite her getting on my nerves quite often, I did actually appreciate that gesture. Ruby and I hadn't been able to talk much today due to all the Grimm attacks and literally being tied up.

"So, Weiss, what was _really_ on your mind earlier?" Ruby asked.

I knew she was talking about my inner conflict, but I pretended to have no idea what she meant. "What are you talking about?"

Ruby sighed. "Weiss, you can talk to me, you know," she said.

"No, I can't!" I exploded. "That's just it, Ruby, I _can't_ talk to you, or Blake, or Yang, or anyone!"

All my anger at myself now came raging out, set free by Ruby's well-meaning remark. That just made me angrier. "There is so much about me that I never told you, about my family and my childhood and God knows what else, and I…I just can't talk about it. Every single time I come up with an excuse. Every time I find a reason to just leave things as they are."

I noticed my vision was getting blurry. Was I crying? I never cried about these things, certainly not in front of others. "I hate it, Ruby," I whispered. "I hate not being able to tell you what's bothering me. I hate that I was yelling at you just a few seconds ago, while you were only trying to help. I hate that I'm crying like some little kid…"

My rant of self-loathing was cut off by Ruby's arms wrapping around me. "Don't worry, Weiss," she said gently. She held me for a moment while I just stood there, sniffling softly.

Ruby broke the embrace, but she still kept her hands on my shoulders. "I know you think you have to do everything alone. But that's just not true anymore. Everyone is here for you. Yang might like to tease you, but she really does care about you. You and Blake might have had some…trouble in the past, but I've seen that you've become friends. And I…I will always be there for you. So what if you're not ready to tell me now? Just tell me when you are ready. I'll wait for you. Just…don't let it take you over, Weiss. I don't want that to happen to you," she said. Her silver eyes were full of conviction when she spoke. There was never any deception with Ruby. She was always looking for the silver lining…although the way she saw it, _everything_ could be a silver lining if you looked at it the right way. Perhaps that relentless optimism was the reason I'm so strongly drawn to her. A counter to the cynicism my father had been trying to instill within me for so many years.

I blinked away the last tears I had in my eyes. "Thank you, Ruby," I said softly.

She smiled brightly at me. "That's what girlfriends are for, right?" she asked, and gave me quick kiss on the cheek. "Salty," she remarked.

"You dolt, don't go tasting my tears," I said, blushing lightly.

"I couldn't help it; your cheek was still wet," Ruby defended herself.

I sighed and kissed her on the lips, savoring the softness for the short moment it lasted. "Then do that next time," I said, enjoying the red creeping up onto Ruby's face now.

"That's cheating," she pouted. I cocked my head.

"Why? Because you didn't think of it first?" I asked.

Ruby made some strange noises, and then she said, "That's not it at _all_." I gave her a skeptical look. "I'm serious," she said. I kept staring. "Okay, you win! Now please stop the stare," she pleaded.

For a moment I considered tormenting her a little bit longer, but ultimately I decided against it. I grabbed her hand, something she clearly didn't expect me to do. "Come on, let's go explore the village." It wasn't something I would normally say. But I wanted to learn to open up to Ruby, and maybe opening up to other things was a part of that as well. I pulled her along with me, and together we headed into the village.

 **And with that, my last chapter of 2015 comes to an end. Next time, the gang heads for the White Fang base. Look forward to it! Oh, and the name of the Laceratilia comes from Lacertilia, the suborder of lizards, and 'lacerate'. Because...why not?  
**

 **Merry Christmas, if that's what you celebrate. Happy holidays if not, because I have clue what they're all called. (I only know Christmas because it's inescapable, otherwise I wouldn't even know that)**

 **Also, Happy New Year, and don't blow your hands off with fireworks, or you wouldn't be able to click the link to the next chapter. See you next year, and in the meantime, share your opinion with me. I might not be writing chapters, but I'll definitely check my mail.**


	11. Outsmarted

**Man, I'm five months overdue with this, and after all that time it turned out like this. This chapter was hell. Aside from having to write my graduation thesis and starting up a training schedule again, I just didn't really know how to write this. I've rewritten the entire thing several times over, and I'm still not satisfied with the execution of this one, but it at least gets the relevant plot-related stuff done.**

 **From now on, I'm putting myself on a two-weekly schedule. That should give me enough time to write chapters at my leisure. I might update sooner than that, but if I'm later feel free to call me out. That said, thanks to MyrtenasterRose and LTLapiz for getting me onto writing this one for real.**

 **Now, the regular stuff: please leave a review and don't be afraid to criticize. I can't promise you I'll go with all of it, but I'll certainly take it to heart and keep it in mind when writing future chapters. The only way for me to get better is by knowing what I did right and wrong in your eyes. That said, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Eleven:** **Outsmarted**

The trees became even denser as we went deeper into the swamp. We'd gone down to the ground after saying goodbye to Basil, but once the trees were dense enough to easily move from tree to tree we'd gone back up to avoid getting stuck in the swamp. Laceratilia were everywhere, but I wasn't too worried by them.

Instead, I was thinking about Weiss's outburst earlier in the village. I'd always known there was a lot about herself she was keeping bottled up, but I hadn't often seen it come out like this. The only time that had even come close was when we found out that Blake used to be a member of the White Fang. And now, just like then, there wasn't anything I could do about it. Not being able to do anything has always ticked me off, but now that Weiss was my girlfriend – it's still strange to say it like that – it had become even worse.

Why couldn't everything be as simple as slaying Grimm? Honestly, there's nothing easier: you see a monster, you grab your awesome sniper scythe, you cut the monster into ribbons, and the problem is gone. Okay, so maybe even slaying Grimm gets difficult sometimes, but most of the time there's not much to it.

I sighed and turned my thoughts back to the present. Worrying about Weiss now was going to have to wait until after we'd gotten into the White Fang base. According to Basil the White Fang had built their fortress in the densest part of the swamp, where they could safely build heavier structures. I wasn't even sure what we were looking for in the base. According to Dr. Oobleck the speaker at the rally had mentioned something about bringing down society from the swamp, but I couldn't imagine they'd have even more mechs stored here. The water and sticky tree sap would wreck them and make repairs nearly impossible. What could they have here that would be more powerful than those Atlesian war machines?

"Be careful. If the information we received is accurate we should soon enter their outer perimeter," Dr. Oobleck said from the tree next to me. Even though the trees were very close together, they were not big enough for all of us to be in the same one. "Turrets will be hidden between the higher and lower branches. Because Grimm still infest the area turret fire won't alert the White Fang to our presence, but do try to avoid getting shot."

"No, really?" Yang muttered under her breath. I only heard her because she too was in a tree directly next to mine. Weiss was on the other side of Yang, and Blake was behind Dr. Oobleck.

"Miss Belladonna, you have the sharpest eyes in this dim light. Take point, if you please," Dr. Oobleck said.

Blake nodded and moved to a tree in front of our group. We began to move again, and it seemed like every few meters Blake would signal that she found a turret, and we'd have to awkwardly change direction, or climb higher or lower to avoid being spotted. To make things harder, every now and then a Laceratilium that hadn't been shot yet would show up and attack us. I had no idea how long we'd been sneaking around when Blake suddenly stopped.

"Guard," she hissed.

I pressed myself as closely against the trunk of tree I was standing in as I could and I immediately felt the sticky sap clinging to my clothes. While that didn't bother me, Crescent Rose was pressed against the tree as well. If the sap got into her firing or folding mechanism…I looked at the others. Everyone was pressed against their tree trunk, just like I was, but they didn't carry their weapons on their back.

"We must have reached the inner perimeter," Dr. Oobleck said softly.

"So what do we do now?" Weiss asked.

"We can't let that guard spot us. Miss Belladonna, is there a way around?"

Blake scanned the trees around us. They all looked the same to me, so I hoped Blake knew what she was doing. "I think so, but it's hard to tell. The thick leaves make it hard to see anything. There might be other guards around."

"Not just _might_ , love," a voice above us said. We looked up…staring right into the muzzles of a dozen assault rifles.

* * *

"You know, getting captured twice in one day is _seriously_ lame," Yang said conversationally as we were hauled through the trees. Our hands were bound, but at least we hadn't been trussed up like turkeys this time.

"Shut up, Human," the White Fang member walking in front of us said.

He seemed to be a monkey Faunus, since he didn't wear shoes and his feet looked more like hands. He easily gripped the branches with them.

"Why capture us at all? I was under the impression you want us dead," Dr. Oobleck said.

The monkey Faunus stopped moving and turned around. "What part of 'shut up' do you not get?" he asked.

"Now, now, Vert, there's no need to be so rude to our guests," the Faunus behind us said.

The Faunus named Vert grumbled something, but he didn't say anything else. Yang took this as her cue to continue talking. "So why _did_ you capture us?" she asked.

"You'll see," was the only answer the Faunus behind us gave.

Yang remained quiet after that. On and on we went, through the trees. I saw at least a dozen turrets as we headed deeper into the White Fang base. It surprised me how long it took us to get to the actual buildings of the base. At this part of the swamp, the trees were so huge the White Fang had managed to construct a base nearly twice the size of Basil's village.

Unlike the village, which had been built entirely from wood and the stringy swamp plants, the White Fang also used metal plates to reinforce parts of the structure. Automatic turrets were everywhere. I guessed they weren't firing at us because we were surrounded by White Fang members. We stepped from a particularly wide branch onto a wooden walkway and headed into the fortress. White Fang guards were everywhere. Fighting our way out of this was going to be extremely difficult.

We marched straight on, heading towards the main building of the fortress. It had thick metal walls, something that was only possible because the tree it had been built around was by far the largest I'd ever seen. I didn't think trees in swamps would ever grow that big. This thing seemed like it would be more at home in a rainforest. We entered through an automatic door into some kind of airlock. The door behind closed and there was a hissing sound.

"Dehumidifier," the Faunus behind us, who seemed to be a jaguar, explained when he saw my puzzled look. "Our equipment doesn't like the moisture all that much, as you might imagine."

In front of me, the Faunus named Vert growled. He didn't seem happy with his colleague. The door in front of us opened and we walked inside. Almost immediately I heard Blake gasp.

" _You!"_

I followed her gaze and spotted a man in black clothing and red hair. His mask was far more elaborate than those of the other White Fang around us. He had a smirk on his face, but it was clear from his body language he was boiling with rage.

"So the traitor is back at last," the man sneered.

Blake was now quivering with rage, but there was something else about her. Was she…afraid? There was a moment of tense silence before the man laughed, but there was no pleasure in it all.

"Cat got your tongue, Blake?"

This guy knew Blake?! That could only mean one thing. This man had to be…

"Adam," Blake said through gritted teeth.

I saw Weiss and Yang narrow their eyes when they heard the name. Dr. Oobleck seemed unconcerned. Adam let his gaze wander over our little group, or at least I think he did. It was hard to tell with his eyes hidden behind his mask.

"I'm not impressed with your new friends," Adam said. "Hanging out with a Schnee, of all people? I knew you were a traitor, but I thought you had more common sense than _that_ ," he went on.

Weiss began to protest, but Blake cut her off. "She's been a better friend to me than you have ever been. Now spare me the pleasantries and tell me what you want with us. You caught us by surprise, so why are we still alive?"

Adam chuckled. It was beginning to infuriate me how someone could be all sorts of smiling and yet never show any happiness.

"I wanted you here because this base is among our lesser known bases and your 'mission' is supposed to take a while. Long before your bodies are found Cinder will have already completed her plan."

Cinder?! Wasn't she a student from Haven? Was she the mastermind behind all of this? But if that were true Beacon would be in the biggest danger of an attack! Blake's eyes narrowed, something that didn't escape Adam.

"Surprised I'd so easily 'blow her cover'?" he asked mockingly. "Surely you don't believe you'll be around long enough to tell anyone at Beacon about this, do you?" He motioned to one of the guards. "Take their scrolls and destroy them. They'll be dead soon enough, but better to be safe than sorry."

The guard nodded and frisked all of us. After he'd collected the five scrolls, he smashed them.

"You better believe I am billing you for this," Yang said. "My entire music collection was on that thing."

Adam ignored her and continued to look at Blake. "I see you don't believe me. Sharp instincts. I used to like that about you. But maybe you'll believe me when I phrase it a bit differently: I wanted you here because I want to be the one that kills you, Blake. You and your little group of friends. Thus far you have accomplished nothing whatsoever, and I want to personally make sure that that will remain the case."

"Hey, we destroyed a bunch of your mechs back in Mistral City; that's gotta count for something," Yang protested.

This time Adam did look at her. "The mechs in that hangar were decoys. We had three working mechs there, all of which survived your little excursion." Again he smirked. "The real mechs were long gone. They were removed even before I planted that note in the abandoned base."

"You planted it?!" I blurted out.

If that note had been a false clue to begin with, then that meant we had no real leads to go on. What would happen to our mission now? Well, before we could worry about that, we still had to get out of this situation first.

"Of course I did," Adam replied dismissively. "You are not the only ones who employ spies. We laid out a false trail for you to follow. The Mistral operation was done long before you arrived. The rally was there only because I knew you'd show up. If you had been killed at any point that would have been fine, but I trusted in your abilities, Blake. Far more than I trust the likes of Cyril Cyano or any of his goons."

"You're lying," Weiss said. "If the Mistral operation were complete we'd have noticed."

"Typical Schnee arrogance. You haven't the foggiest idea what our operation was, so you would have no idea whether or not it succeeded either," Adam said. Now more than ever his voice was dripping with hatred.

"I don't suppose you'll tell us what it was then, huh?" Yang asked.

It surprised me that Dr. Oobleck had remained silent the entire time. I would have expected him to have taken the lead in talking to Adam.

"Why would I? Even though you will die here I'm not enough of a fool to tell you the details of our plans. But I'm afraid our time here has come to an end. There is something I must attend to that is more urgent than executing the five of you, but rest assured that before the day is out your lives will be over." He motioned to the guards again. "Take them to their cells. I want two of you in front of every door. Aura suppressor rifles. Keep them alive if possible, but if they die before I return in a misguided attempt to break out, so be it. But _I_ will be the one to kill the traitor. If she dies, I'll kill whoever fired the fatal shot," he said.

With that, he turned around and walked over to a large computer in the back of the building. I tried to make out what was on the screen, but the White Fang guard pulled me along before I could see anything.

"Dr. Oobleck?" I said softly.

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Why didn't you say anything just now?" I asked.

We waited for the airlock to let us through.

"I saw no need to. This man is far smarter and more cunning than any White Fang member we've run into thus far, so negotiating would be futile. Furthermore, this time all of us were together so there was no need to stall for time. I opted to use my time to observe instead."

I wanted to ask if he had discovered anything, but the airlock hissed and we were pulled outside. As soon as we stepped outside, the guards began pulling all of us in different directions.

"Hey! Why are you splitting us up?" I asked my guard, the jaguar Faunus who'd explained the airlock to me.

"It would be foolish to keep you together, so we're putting you in separate cells in different parts of the complex."

I had to admit it was smart. It would be easy for them to overwhelm us with numbers if we were on our own, even if we did manage to break out. I fell silent and tried to do what Dr. Oobleck had done: observe. If I could find anything that might seem like a weakness, or a hint at what the White Fang were truly planning, maybe we'd have something to go on once we got out of here. I refused to think about the possibility we might not make it. If I started thinking like that there'd be even less of a chance for us. Besides, I finally had a girlfriend. There was no way I was going to die and lose all that.

I was taken to a building far removed from the central building, on the outer edge of the fortress. Like the main building, it had metal plating on its walls to fortify it, but these weren't as thick as the ones on the main building. Just like the other building, though, it had an airlock.

"Why does a jail need an airlock? There aren't any machines in there, right?" I asked.

"It's not a jail. Our cells are close together, so we had to convert some other places in order to…"

"Noir, if you say one more word I'm going to cut your head off," Vert said.

I only now noticed that he had been the other guard escorting me. So much for my powers of observation.

"Do you _want_ her to break out?"

Noir gave Vert a patient look. "She's not stupid, Vert. As soon as we get inside she'd notice this isn't a jail cell. What is she going to do? She's unarmed and alone and we have Aura suppressor rifles. If she bests us we're dead anyway because Adam would kill us."

The airlock hissed and we walked inside. The building was filled with computers. Each one was manned by a White Fang member wearing a headset. I tried to make out what they were saying, as well as trying to read the screens, but Vert and Noir dragged me through the room too quickly for me to see anything.

We were heading for a door in the back of the room, and I guessed that would be where they were going to hold me until Adam was done with whatever he was doing. I frantically tried to pick up anything from the room. I had to get _some_ information, no matter what.

Just then, I managed to catch a glimpse of one of the screens. Adam's face was in the top left corner, but next to that was a world map, with a glowing marker on Vacuo. I couldn't make out anything else, but that was enough for me. Something was going on in Vacuo, and after we'd gotten out of here that's where we would have to go…unless it was a trap. But even if it was, did we have a choice? Adam's revelation meant that we had literally nothing to go on. Could we afford _not_ to go to Vacuo and find out later something horrible happened there?

I didn't get a chance, yet, to think about the answer to that. We'd reached the door at the back of the room. Vert opened it and roughly shoved me inside. The door immediately closed behind me, leaving me in the dark.

I thought I knew what darkness was, but inside of…wherever I was now it took on a whole new meaning. There was no light at all. My hands were still bound, but even if they hadn't been I wouldn't have been able to do much. Without my scroll I had no way to make a light. I also noticed how quiet it was in here. The door must have been thicker than I first thought, because I didn't hear the noise of the other room at all.

I slowly shuffled across the room, using my feet to feel for anything I might trip over and sticking out my bound hands as well as I could. It felt like it took me an hour to reach the other side of the room, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes.

The back wall felt solid, but I soon found out that there was another door there, which probably led to another airlock and outside. I turned around, and I noticed something I hadn't been able to see before. A small blinking red light, at about eye level. It wasn't very bright, so it didn't reflect in the metallic wall. I slowly made my way over to it and reached out with my hands to examine it. It felt like some kind of tablet. I tried to find a button on it, and to my relief I soon found one. I pressed it, and the tablet's screen lit up.

The light was almost blinding to my eyes after the darkness, but once they had adjusted a bit I could see what was on the screen. It was password protected, so I wouldn't be able to use it and the battery had less than ten percent left in it, which was probably the cause of the blinking light. Even though I couldn't use the tablet itself, though, I could still use the light of its screen to see where I was.

I picked up the tablet and pressed the button again, to relight the screen. Using it like a flashlight, I looked around my 'cell'. There were shelves on both walls, all stocked with various electronic components and devices I had never seen before. I saw some other tablets as well. Maybe I'd be able to use those as a light source if this one ran out. I was in a storage room, apparently.

One of the shelves was empty. Its support was warped and had been shorn apart, probably by something heavy. The piece of metal had a very jagged edge. There was something about that that drew my attention, but for a moment I didn't know why. Then I realized it: I'd be able to cut the ropes around my wrists on that edge. Despite my situation, I grinned. I was feeling like Jim Bont again.

 **And on that note, the chapter's done. Please let me know what you think, and I hope to see you again in the next chapter!**


	12. Prison Break

**It's been a year, pretty much. It's been a year, and then I come out with this. Honestly, I wrote myself into a corner with this chapter as my lofty ideas once again overpower my skills, but for all the dissatisfaction I feel over this chapter I've at least set up what I wanted to set up. It's a long chapter, but it was necessary. Rest assured, I have a plan with all of this. That said, I think it bears repeating that this fic follows on from Season 2. Nothing in Seasons 3 and 4 should be considered canon in the context of this fic. The portrayal of any characters and locations that have not appeared in Season 2 or earlier might be (and will be, in at least one case) vastly different from the show. For one thing, there are no maidens. I will mention other significant changes in the author's notes if I feel I have to. With that out of the way, please Read and Review. God knows I need constructive criticism. And, if you're still here after all this time, thank you so much for sticking with me. It means the world to me.**

 **Chapter Twelve: Prison Break**

I couldn't remember the last time I had been this livid. Not even Ruby and Yang had ever pushed me this far. The reason for my anger? Those White Fang ruffians had seen fit to lock me up in a freezer. A _freezer!_ Adam must have had a lot of fun coming up with that. 'Let's put the Ice Queen in a freezer so we can all have a laugh.'

I knew my internal ranting wasn't going to help me much, but the fact remained that I was being held in a freezer, joined only by the carcasses of what I presumed had once been cows. They seemed too large to be pigs, at any rate. I found it strange how a hidden base of a terrorist group was so well stocked out here in the swamp. No doubt Adam had been able to pull strings in Mistral to get all of this equipment here.

Of course, Mistral had always been known to be a hub of less than legal activities. According to my father, most of the Dust that was stolen from the company ended up on the black market of Mistral. As a child, I'd always envisioned a black market to be a group of guys in shady trench coats in back alleys, constantly looking over their shoulders. I was pretty certain Ruby would still think the actual black market worked like that.

Thinking about Ruby made me wonder where the White Fang was keeping her. Since we'd all been taken in different directions, I didn't think she'd be anywhere close to my location. Yang, Blake, and Dr. Oobleck were probably likewise being held far from me. That meant I couldn't count on anyone coming to get me out of here before Adam was done with whatever master plan he was working on and he'd execute us. I looked around the freezer. Aside from the cow carcasses, there were a number of boxes stacked against one of the walls. The opposite wall contained a large sliding door, with 'Freezer 2' written above it. Next to the door was a keypad. The far wall, finally, contained a device which seemed to be the freezing element, judging by the small screen which showed the current temperature on it. I was surprised by how cold it actually was in here. My Aura enabled me to deal with the cold quite easily, to the point where it was a nuisance rather than a danger to me.

I walked over to the thermostat and touched the screen. It lit up and asked for a password. Of course. I didn't really know what I planned to do even _if_ I would have been able to change the temperature. It wasn't like spoiling their meat was going to hurt them much in the long run, and it wasn't going to help me escape.

I turned around, and my attention was drawn to the keypad next to the door to the other freezer. The keypad technology was old and cheap. Nowadays such systems were really only used on low-security areas because they weren't very robust. They had a failsafe, which would unlock whatever door it was locking. Fine in theory, but the problem was that the failsafe was often triggered by environmental damage. Sand in the mechanism, strong magnetic fields, heavy vibrations…and extreme temperatures.

I glanced back over my shoulder at the thermostat, and then looked back at the keypad. I didn't know the code, but if I could somehow lower the temperature in here far enough, maybe I would be able to get its failsafe to kick in and unlock the door. I didn't know if the other freezer would afford me any more options of escape than this one did, but I definitely had nothing to lose. If I did nothing I'd end up dead anyway.

I headed back over to the thermostat and examined the freezing element beneath it. It had a grille to blow out the cold air, and some wires and pipes went into it. It looked incredibly simple, but to my frustration I had to admit I had no idea how it actually _worked_.

I'd have to use an alternative method to cool down this freezer even further. I knew a glyph that could affect the temperature within a set of marking glyphs, but to use it I'd have to get rid of the ropes around my wrists first. Fortunately, that was easy enough. I formed a small glyph in my hand and gave it a gentle upward push. It easily cut through my bonds and I smirked. It was nice to know even Adam hadn't taken everything into consideration. I focused my attention on the temperature changing glyph again. It was a fairly complex sequence of glyphs to pull off, and in combat usually pointless since Dust could accomplish the same with far less effort. Now, however, I'd have to use the old-fashioned way of doing it. I took a deep breath and in my head I heard the voice of my father.

" _These glyphs are our family's pride, Weiss. Hereditary Semblances are rare, and ours is the most versatile Semblance one could ever need."_

It had been one of the only times he'd ever taught me personally. He generally let one of my uncles handle my training because he was often too busy to help me. It had been a surprising lesson, to say the least. My father's glyphs had seemed to be less powerful than the ones my uncles usually showed me, but he was far faster and defter in placing them than anyone I'd ever seen. I didn't think even Winter could do it that fast. He taught me a more efficient way to channel my Aura into my glyphs to help me cast them faster and more accurately. That day, he used the temperature changing glyph as an example because of its complexity.

I closed my eyes and focused my Aura on the walls, floor, and ceiling around me, forcing the marking glyphs to appear. Each had to be aligned properly, or the temperature change wouldn't be confined within my boundaries and fail to affect anything. I began to feel cold because I was focusing my Aura into creating the glyphs, rather than keeping me warm. Once the marking glyphs were done, I created another glyph in the middle of the freezer. It pulsed a cool blue, and my marking glyphs resonated in response. If I'd set them the wrong way they wouldn't be reacting at all, so now that I was certain my glyphs would work I set to work in earnest.

I could drop the temperature down by a large margin if I wanted to, but I chose to instead gradually lower the temperature around me, so as not to overwhelm myself with the cold. It wouldn't do for me to accidentally end my own life, after all. My breath formed little clouds in front of my face as the cold grew ever harsher. I shivered, but I still kept lowering the temperature. The keypad hadn't broken yet, and I wasn't going to give in before this obsolete piece of rubbish did. The walls of the freezer became coated in small crystals as the temperature dropped, and I was really beginning to feel the effects of the cold.

"Whoever said those keypads were weak to extreme temperatures was evidently talking out of their ass," I muttered softly.

Normally I'd use cleaner language, but the cold was so severe manners were my least concern. It even hurt to breathe now. Before I could resort to stronger language, however, the keypad beeped twice and the doors groaned as the lock released. I immediately canceled my glyphs and as soon as I did I felt the temperature beginning to rise again. I wasn't sure if the door would lock itself again when became a bit warmer again, so I quickly stepped through into the second freezer.

With my Aura once again protecting me, my mind soon cleared enough to take in my new surroundings. The second freezer had more boxes stacked against its walls, but there were no carcasses hanging on the meat hooks in the ceiling here. In the far wall, there was a door that looked like an air lock. Did it really lead outside? The White Fang had brought me in through a mess hall and a kitchen, but it would probably be easier for supplies to be brought into the freezer directly. I inspected the air lock door. To my surprise, it had an emergency release next to it. The other freezer had lacked one, but it could be that since anyone in the freezer would know the keypad code to get from one freezer to the other, it only needed one emergency exit.

This time, however, I frowned. Adam might not have foreseen me being able to cut my bonds, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to leave an exit like this. Would there be guards at the other side of this door with Aura suppressor rifles? I ground my teeth as I pondered that question. Adam had thus far outsmarted us at every turn. Even our presence here now was a part of his plan. It was obvious, then, that he would know we'd try to escape. He'd even outright told the other White Fang members to guard all the exits. But then I considered what Blake had told us after we'd gotten away from the rally. Most White Fang members were supremely arrogant. With Adam in their base, they'd feel pretty confident that none of us could get away. Since they had closed the door between the freezers, there was a chance they hadn't considered this emergency exit to be worth guarding. Yes, Adam was capable of outsmarting us, but his lackeys had shown time and again they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

I stared hard at the button which would open the airlock for me. It was behind a small pane of glass and pressing it might sound an alarm. I winced as that realization hit me. If a base-wide alarm would go off if I hit this button, I'd definitely be dead before I could get anywhere. I felt the urge to use some colorful language again, but I held it back. Swearing wasn't going to help me. A small smile crossed my face as I imagined Yang didn't agree with that notion, and she'd surely be calling her guards every name in the book by now.

Without giving myself another moment to hesitate, I extended my fist and punched the emergency button. I braced for the sound of sirens wailing, alarmed shouts drawing towards me, and the clicks of Aura suppressor rifles being armed, but none of those things happened. Instead, the airlock just hissed and opened. Feeling relieved, but still cautious, I stepped into the airlock. The door closed behind me and I heard more hissing and whirring as it cycled the air. The outer doors slid open and I raised my hands defensively, ready to fight as soon as I saw any guards. No one appeared in the door opening, however, so I slowly proceeded forwards. I glanced out the doors and looked around for any guards, but the walkway was empty. It wasn't as wide as the one leading to the central building, but still wide enough for supplies to be brought in on. Beyond was a wall of trees so thick I doubted even an arboreal Faunus could see through it. The left and right sides of the walkway looked exactly the same, so I turned left and crept along the walkway.

I stayed low to make it harder for anyone looking from the trees to see me, even though my white dress – marred by green patches – stood out like a sore thumb. I wondered what my next move should be now. Even though I had gotten out, there was no guarantee the others would manage to free themselves as well. Aside from that, I had to get Myrtenaster back if I wanted to be able to fight. Sure, I had my glyphs, but I was used to using them as supports, not my main fighting style. I decided that I would make getting Myrtenaster back my first goal. Maybe I'd be able to help the others after that.

I reached the corner of the walkway and pressed myself against the wall. I peered around the corner of the building and spotted the center of the treetop fortress. I vaguely recalled Basil saying something about this base being smaller than their village, but from what I was seeing now that had been sadly mistaken. This base was enormous and made great use of the much higher density of trees in this part of the swamp. I briefly considered going into the trees to avoid detection, but there were sure to be automated turrets hidden in the branches. I tried to see if any of the structures looked like some kind of weapons storage, but the buildings were all constructed from the same uniform gray metal and had no obvious markings.

That left me to observe the White Fang members themselves. The main walkways of the fortress were quite crowded, in stark contrast to the empty walkway from which I was looking at them. I knew it would probably only be a matter of time before a patrol would pass here as well, so I had to make a decision and I had to do it quickly. Growing ever more frustrated, I scanned and rescanned the treetop fortress. Eventually, in a move born of supreme desperation, I looked down.

My gaze fell upon the support struts that kept up the walkways. Even the bridges had supports beneath them. I backed up a bit and glanced over the fence of the walkway I was on. It, too, had supports beneath it. Would the White Fang be smart enough to guard the underside of their walkways? Adam might be, but I was confident that the regular members, who had been stupid enough to leave my exit unguarded, would not bother to check now that they weren't expecting an infiltration anymore. I hoped that, if there were any turrets guarding the underside of the base, they would not fire upward and risk damaging the base. It wasn't much, but as it stood it was my only hope to get anywhere.

With my heart pounding like a machinegun, I carefully climbed over the fence and lowered myself onto the diagonal support strut. The next strut seemed very far away, but that didn't have to be a problem. I created a glyph and jumped for the next strut, landing cleanly in the middle of the broad metal bar. Not the most silent way of movement, but it would have to do. There weren't going to be any risk-free ways of getting out of here, after all. Might as well pick the one the least dangerous one.

I jumped to the next strut, keeping my eyes focused on the walkways to see if any guards had detected me. So far, they seemed oblivious to me. Now, I just had to figure out where the White Fang would be keeping our weapons, if they even kept them all at the same place. I figured that they probably wouldn't have their armory near the kitchen, so I decided to head towards the center platform and figure out what to do from there.

I kept pausing after each leap to see if I'd been spotted, so my journey back to the central platform took much longer than when I was being dragged to my makeshift prison, but eventually I reached my destination. I was perched underneath the walkways surrounding the main building. From my vantage point, I could see almost half of the base.

I tried to discern which of the many buildings could possibly be an armory, but since the buildings were unmarked that was a difficult task. I decided to go around the main building to check out the other side of the base and prepared a glyph to jump to the next strut, when I heard a voice.

"I delivered their weapons to Dr. Amethyst, as ordered."

"Good. I don't know what she wants with them but it's not like their owners are going to need them anymore. Did you pass along Adam's orders?"

There was a moment of silence. "Damn, I knew I forgot something. That woman just won't shut up once she gets going so I got out as soon as she had the weapons." A sigh. "Guess I'll have to go back. Better that than having my head cut off by Adam."

I looked up at the planks that made up the walkway, hoping to see through the cracks between them where the White Fang member was going. Could dumb luck help me find the weapons? As soon as I thought this, though, something felt wrong. The last time I'd been suspiciously lucky I'd walked straight into a trap, which had turned out to be part of an even larger trap. What if this was the same thing all over again? But Adam couldn't have anticipated my escape, could he? Besides, how would he know I'd be here at this exact moment to hear this conversation? And in the end, once again, what choice did I have but to go along with it? I had no leads to go on and I'd have to take any chance, no matter how small, to get Myrtenaster back.

Before I could mull over the situation even more, however, one of the buildings ahead of me exploded. The building had been one built mostly out of wood, with only a few metal plates covering it. Now, the metal plates bent outwards and bits of wood and metal were raining down upon the walkways and into the trees. A split second of stunned silence was followed by a siren and alarmed shouts from the guards, who were readying their weapons and heading over to the blast zone. I followed them, still staying underneath the walkways to avoid detection. As I got closer, I heard a voice I knew all too well.

"Alright, you bastards, come and get it!"

The taunt was met with an immediate burst of machinegun fire, but of course Yang knew better than to get hit by something like that. I sped up and reached a part of the walkway that had been shattered by the explosion. I hesitated for just a moment, but then I pushed my fears away and leapt up through the opening.

The first thing I saw when I landed was the back of a White Fang soldier, with his assault rifle trained on the cloud of smoke ahead of him. I leapt toward him and kicked him in the back. He went down, but he rolled with the kick and got up to bring his rifle to bear on me. Sadly for him, he was too late. I reached him, grabbed the gun, and used a glyph to blast him into the smoke.

Now, at least, I had a gun with which to defend myself. I turned around and saw more White Fang members approaching, so I lifted up the gun and opened fire. I hadn't had time to aim properly and my shots went far past their intended targets. On some level, I felt relieved. These White Fang members weren't as skilled with their Auras as trained Huntsmen and Huntresses were so this assault rifle was probably more than strong enough to kill them. Despite my misgivings about them, I still didn't want to kill them in cold blood. Fortunately, the sudden burst of gunfire made them hesitate long enough for me to jump into the smokescreen and evade their returning fire. I didn't know where Yang had gone, but judging by the screaming and the gunfire she was still putting up a fight.

I reached the other side of the smokescreen surprisingly quickly, and when I did I finally spotted Yang, just as she punched a White Fang member hard enough to send him flying into his fellows behind him. That's when I noticed that Yang didn't just have Ember Celica, but also all our other weapons. She must have seen the weapons being delivered and somehow gotten to them before I could.

"Yang!"

She turned around when she heard me shouting and shot me a huge grin when she recognized me.

"Weiss! Took you long enough," she yelled back. "That rifle really doesn't suit you, try this!"

With that, she unhooked Myrtenaster from her belt and threw it at me. I dropped the gun and caught Myrtenaster. To my unending relief, the Dust was still in the chambers. I cycled to my ice Dust, summoned a glyph, and sent the White Fang members, who had crawled back to their feet after being knocked down by their comrade, back with a wall of ice. Despite myself, I grinned. This was so much better than using a gun.

"How did you get out?" I asked Yang, as I walked closer to her.

"I'll tell you all about my daring escape later," she replied. "Right now, we need to get the others out. Do you know where they are?"

I shook my head. Yang shrugged. "Guess we'll have to wing it, then."

Without wasting another word, she dove into the fading smokescreen. I quickly followed her, hoping she had more of an idea where to go than I did. We emerged from the smoke once more, quickly fighting our way past the White Fang gathered on the other side. With the element of surprise gone, we'd be overrun if we didn't manage to find the others quickly.

"Weiss, look!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the place Yang was pointing. Ruby and Blake, surrounded by White Fang members, were right ahead of us. They stood back to back and they were obviously outmatched.

"Weiss, give us some speed," Yang said. I nodded and focused, creating the glyph that would give Yang and me the speed we'd need to get close.

"Rubes, Blake, catch!" Yang yelled as we approached.

She threw Crescent Rose and Gambol Shroud at them, and they were quick to react. Meanwhile, I used my Dust to distract the White Fang from Ruby and Blake. Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose and swung it quickly, further knocking back the White Fang members.

"Where's Dr. Oobleck?" Blake asked, after she kicked away one of the White Fang guards.

"I haven't seen him," Yang answered. "Let's go find him and get out of here; I don't think we can keep surprising these guys."

The four of us ran down the walkways, looking for any sign of Dr. Oobleck. "Don't tell me he's the only one of us who didn't free himself," Yang groaned.

"I don't think you need to worry about that, Miss Xiao Long," a voice above us replied. We looked up in surprise, and Dr. Oobleck dropped down out of the trees.

"My apologies for my late appearance, ladies, but I had to disable the turrets before one of you got hurt," he went on.

"Does that mean we can escape?" Ruby asked him.

"Correct, Miss Rose. I suggest we do so at once," he replied.

"Nice work, Professor," Yang said, handing him his thermos.

"Doctor, thank you very much," Dr. Oobleck said. He opened the lid of his thermos and took a swig of coffee. "Good, it's still warm. Now then, let's move quickly. We'll be quickest if we go down to ground level. Miss Schnee, can you create glyphs to prevent us from sinking into the swamp, at least until we're clear of the base?"

I nodded. "I think so."

"After you then, ladies," Dr. Oobleck said. He extended his thermos to its full size and shot several balls of fire into the base, scattering the approaching White Fang.

"Alright, let's move! Weiss, you go first," Ruby said.

I nodded and jumped over the walkway's fence. Using Myrtenaster to guide my focus, I summoned a glyph on the fetid waters underneath me. When I landed on it, I expanded it to allow the others to land on it as well.

"Come on down!" I shouted up, unsure if they'd be able to hear me.

Shortly after, though, Blake, Yang, and Ruby joined me. Ruby looked at me and said, "Dr. Oobleck is coming, start making a path and get going. He said to head south, away from Mistral."

I nodded and took a deep breath. I pointed Myrtenaster and a path of white glyphs appeared on the water like a row of lilies. I snaked the path around a tree and felt my Aura straining to keep up with the distance.

"We have to go now," I warned the others.

Ruby nodded once. "Blake, you and Weiss at the front, Yang close behind. I'll call Dr. Oobleck down," she said.

We each nodded and I turned around, running over the path of glyphs with Blake next to me.

"I need your eyes to guide the path in this gloom," I told her.

"Left around that tree, then hard right," Blake replied.

I extended my path of glyphs and felt the strain on my Aura increase. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Ruby had put Crescent Rose into its sniper mode. She aimed it into the trees and fired three quick shots, then turned around and began to run down the path after the rest of us.

Above us in the trees, an immense fireball engulfed the White Fang's base and Dr. Oobleck jumped down, landing on my huge glyph. As soon as he'd joined us on the path I canceled the huge glyph and breathed a sigh of relief since I didn't have to stretch my aura as far anymore.

We ran through the swamp for what felt like an eternity, made worse by the attacks of the Laceratilia, which had begun again as soon as we got outside of the perimeter of the White Fang base. Eventually, we reached a small island in the swamp and I canceled my glyphs. Back to back, we fought Laceratilia until, mercifully, they eventually stopped coming. Panting, we sat down on the wet dirt. I was vaguely annoyed at ruining my dress even more, but the chance to take a breather after all the fighting we'd just done was too welcome to ignore it.

"Yes! Team RWBY one, White Fang zero!" Yang said enthusiastically. "I'd like to see the look on Adam's face right about now. Don't think he'll underestimate us again," she went on.

I wanted to share in Yang's elation, but I shot a look at Blake instead. She had a grim look on her face not much different from the one she'd had when we'd been captured.

"Blake? What's wrong?" I asked her.

"He let us go," she said with a disgusted look on her face.

"What are you talking about? We totally kicked their asses," Yang said cockily.

"Right, and we just happen to _all_ break out of our cells? _None_ of the guards we faced in our escape had Aura suppressor rifles? We _all_ happen to pick up some information? Or are you going to tell me you didn't find anything that could be a lead while you were getting out?" Blake demanded. "For instance, Ruby said she'd seen something about Vacuo on a screen. I heard someone mention the Smuggler's Retreat, which just so happens to be a den of thieves in the middle of the desert in Vacuo, which is only known to a select few within the White Fang." She angrily shook her head. "Adam's set us up again. We have nothing to go on, now."

Yang was silent now, as were the rest of us. The relief at our escape was now replaced by more uncertainty. The way Blake said it, it was obvious that Adam had indeed orchestrated our escape. In that case, had it been his intention for all of us to learn some scrap of information? And if so, what could his plan be once we followed this new lead?

"This is very troubling news, Miss Belladonna," Dr. Oobleck said. "What do you advise we do, if this is indeed another trap?"

Blake looked at the ground. "I'm not sure," she said softly. "He's outsmarted us at every turn, so every word he has said has to be treated with suspicion. Everything we think we figured out might be false information."

She looked at Yang, Dr. Oobleck, and me. "Did any of you 'discover' anything during your escape?" she asked.

Yang cocked her head. "Not much. Something about an oasis, I think, but nothing big."

Dr. Oobleck put his hand on his chin as he thought. "I picked up the name Redhorn from a document I spotted when I broke out of the archives, where they had me locked up," he said eventually.

"Weiss?" Blake asked.

I shook my head. I hadn't heard anything useful, had I? Then I reconsidered. "Wait, maybe there is something. One of the White Fang said he'd brought our weapons to a Dr. Amethyst," I said.

Blake sighed deeply. "Then we've definitely been had. All of the things you've picked up are references to Vacuo. The Smuggler's Retreat is accessible from an oasis. Redhorn is one of the most powerful members of the White Fang in the Vacuo cell, and Dr. Amethyst died years ago at Redhorn's hands. I'm guessing the person this guard referred was his daughter."

We were all silent for a moment. What could we do now that we had no leads left? Going to Vacuo would probably only play into Adam's hands, so that was out, but what then? Back to Vale?

"Miss Belladonna, pardon me for asking this, but since you have unique knowledge of the White Fang, is there perhaps anywhere else we could go where we might find a lead that does not consist of smoke and mirrors?" Dr. Oobleck asked.

Blake remained silent. Her eyes were hard, angry, but I could see a glint of fear in them. She looked the same as I'd felt so many times in my life.

"Why don't we just go to Vacuo anyway?" Yang suggested. "We know it's a trap, so maybe we can somehow outsmart them at their own game," she went on.

Blake shook her head. "If we go to Vacuo, Adam will hold all the cards again. He put all of us in place where we could engineer our own escape. He knows us well enough to predict what we would do, and he knows that I've realized his intentions to a degree. We can't outsmart them if we go to Vacuo…but maybe there's another place we can go."

She hesitated as the others gave her curious looks. I felt that she wasn't comfortable with what she wanted to say, and again I saw myself in her…and that made me realize what she wanted to say.

"Menagerie," I said softly.

Blake's eyes widened. "How did you…?"

I smiled ruefully. "I recognized the face of someone who fears going home," I said.

Blake nodded slowly. I felt Ruby's eyes piercing into my side and I turned to face her. Her face was full of concern for Blake and me.

"I don't think my parents would be angry with me," Blake said, "But things have been a bit…difficult between us. They left the White Fang before I did, as soon as things began to go towards the violent side. I…I don't know what they'll think of me now. I don't even know if they could help us, even if they wanted to."

Yang put her hand on Blake's shoulder. "No worries. I'm sure they'll be proud of you now that you're standing up against them."

A small smile played on Blake's face.

"So…we're going to Menagerie?" Ruby asked.

Blake nodded. "It's the only thing I can think of. While White Fang sentiment will be strong there, not all Faunus support their ways."

"Then it's settled," Dr. Oobleck said. "However, I must get word to Headmaster Ozpin about Cinder Fall. While the source of the information is highly suspect, I nevertheless believe he should be informed about potential threats." He paused to think for a moment. "I think it best it the four of you head to Menagerie. I will rendezvous with you there after I've gone to Vale. Without our scrolls, and with the White Fang indubitably looking for us, it will be safer for me to head to Vale alone, and I trust that you will have the sense to lay low while traveling to Menagerie." He said those last words looking at Ruby in particular. "The trip south to the ferry will take you several weeks, since you will have to travel on foot. I urge you to stay out of trouble as much as you can. Were it not imperative to contact the Headmaster, I would not leave you alone," he reiterated.

One by one, we nodded. "I promise, Dr. Oobleck," Ruby said as earnestly as I'd ever heard her.

"Me too," Yang said.

Blake merely nodded once. She still seemed conflicted about going back. Once again, I admired her bravery at facing her past. Thus far I'd been rather lackluster at it.

"Miss Schnee?" Dr. Oobleck said, and I realized he was waiting for my answer.

"I promise," I said quickly.

He gave a short nod, seemingly satisfied. He looked at the sky. "It's getting dark. We should camp here for tonight, dangerous though it is, and head out at dawn. Miss Belladonna, could you take first watch? I'll start a fire. Miss Rose, Miss Schnee, Miss Xiao Long, if the three of you would be so kind to try and find something edible around here?"

Wordlessly, we nodded. Despite our dismal surroundings, I felt a glimmer of hope within myself. Maybe in Menagerie, we would finally find a lead that wasn't planted by Adam. Maybe we could finally get on the right path now.

 **So, there it is. A long chapter, one that I'm not entirely proud of, but one that had to happen. From this point on, I hope I can get the pacing back into gear and the plot won't spin its wheels anymore. If you've gotten this far, thank you, and hopefully I'll see you in the next chapter.**


	13. Back On The Road

**Since I've been absent for nearly a year, I figured I'd give those of you who are still here another chapter right away. This chapter, unlike the last one, was fun to write. I hope it's fun to read as well. Be sure to Read and Review. Every bit of criticism, both positive and negative, can help me as long as you can give me pointers as to what is good and what needs improvement. Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. If I want to get better, I'll need to be able to deal with criticism. No one gets better from just being sung their praises. (But don't hesitate to do that, either, of course…) Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Back On The Road**

"The ferry is down there," Blake said.

She pointed at a large dock in the distance, a long way away from the cliff we were standing on. Four weeks had passed since we escaped from the White Fang base in the swamp. Dr. Oobleck had gone back to Vale, and we hadn't heard from him since he left our group. While we'd been making our way south we'd stayed off the main roads between Mistral and the villages that were spread around the landscape of Anima, and stuck to the smaller forest paths that fewer people knew about, just to stay out of the White Fang's sight as long as possible. After all, we hoped they would think we were going to Vacuo. It wouldn't be good if they realized what we were really up to.

Traveling off the normal roads, though, also meant more encounters with Grimm. We didn't run into them as much as we did in the swamp, and it was a relief that these Grimm were the ones we were used to again, like Ursai and Beowolves, instead of the lizards whose names I never managed to pronounce, much less remember. How Weiss managed to do it was a mystery to me.

Speaking of Weiss, not much had changed between us during the time we'd been on the road. She was still not very willing to discuss her family with me, although she had mentioned a few things about her father and sister after I'd questioned her enough when were actually supposed to be sleeping. Despite nothing really changing between us, though, something else _was_ beginning to change in me.

Weiss had been raising my heartbeat for quite some time, but now my thoughts were becoming more…well…they weren't very...clean? Don't get me wrong, these thoughts weren't exactly new to me. I may not be the most mature person, but, well, I'm a teenager just the same. What bothered me was that these thoughts were coming more and more often lately, and there weren't that many opportunities to do something about them, if you get what I mean. So far it hadn't distracted me during any fights, but what if they started to? Worst of all, I couldn't really tell anyone about it either. Yang would make stupid jokes, Blake was quite withdrawn lately, probably because we were heading to Menagerie, and Weiss was the source of my 'problem', and besides she'd probably consider it inappropriate or something.

I shook myself from my thoughts and tried to judge the distance between us and the docks. From what I could tell it would take us at least two more days to get there, since we had to find a path down from the cliff and then follow it until we got to the docks. We could jump down, of course, but without our scrolls and with the forest dense enough to block the sky, it would be difficult to find out if we were going in the right direction. We'd been taught some basic navigation on the light of the sun and the stars, but I wasn't really very good at it yet even without anything blocking my sight.

"How are we getting onto the ferry, anyway?" Weiss asked. "We don't have any money to buy tickets."

"I guess we'll just figure that out when we get there," Yang said with a shrug. "We've dealt with worse things than not having money lately."

"We should get moving," Blake said. "The quicker we get there the better."

Weiss looked at her with a sad gleam in her eyes. Out of all of us, she seemed to be the best at understanding how Blake felt. Funny how the person she had the biggest fight with was now the one who knew what she was going through better than any of us.

We turned away from the cliffside view and began walking along the path we'd been traveling on before. This particular path had apparently been abandoned long ago, but it had once been a trade route for smugglers heading from Menagerie to Mistral and the other way around during the Faunus Rights Revolution. Increasing Grimm attacks caused the smugglers to find other routes and this path was left to nature. In many places, it had become so overgrown with weeds that we had to guess where it had once been, but so far we'd been pretty successful at it. Soon we arrived at a narrow path that snaked its way down the cliff.

"They used this path for _smuggling_?" Yang asked disbelievingly. "How did they manage to get anything up or down here without dying?"

"Who says they didn't?" Blake said softly.

Yang paled. "I'm sorry, I…"

"It's okay. It's hard for anyone to really know what we've gone through over the years. I'm too young to know everything that's happened, but there are many paths like this one. I know that a lot of smugglers died from accidents during the war, but it was their only means of survival. They needed the money and the supplies from the smuggling or they would die," Blake said.

Yang still looked troubled. "Yang, it's okay. I'm not mad," Blake reassured her.

"Still. You're one of my best friends. I don't want to make things harder for you with any dumb remarks," Yang said.

"You? Not wanting to make any dumb remarks? I never thought I'd see the day," Weiss said slyly.

Yang looked her. She seemed a bit annoyed at first, but then she grinned. "Hey, I can totally be tactful when I want to be," she said confidently.

Even Blake smiled lightly at that, and with slightly better moods we began walking down the perilous path. Hey, that could be a good title for a story or something. Not for the first time, I was happy I had my teammates with me on this journey. Despite all the danger we'd gotten ourselves into, and would no doubt get ourselves into again, I liked this 'quest' a lot. It felt like all of this could come right out of one of my books. Here we were, on a mission to save the world. It doesn't get much more epic than that, does it?

But for us, it might be a bit different than for the heroes in my books. At least they knew exactly what they were up against. They knew what kind of evil they were fighting, and they had at least some idea of what to do against it. We didn't know what the White Fang and Cinder were planning. I guess we weren't even sure if Cinder had anything to do with it, considering that Adam had been leading us on from the start.

I was shaken from my thoughts by a loud screech.

"Nevermore!" Yang shouted, readying herself for a fight.

I looked at the forest, still far beneath us, and above it I saw the Grimm. It was huge, at least as big as the one we'd fought in the Emerald Forest long ago, and it wasn't alone. More Nevermores, both big and small, were rising out of the trees. How had they been able to hide themselves there?

I unfolded Crescent Rose, but I immediately knew I was in trouble. The path was far too narrow to properly fight on, so I switched into sniper mode and began shooting the Nevermores as they approached us. Blake joined me in shooting them, while Yang and Weiss were patiently waiting for the Grimm to come closer.

When the lead Nevermore swooped in to attack with its talons, a move that was doomed to fail from the start since there was no room to overshoot, Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the cliff wall and a pillar of ice shot out and encased the bird.

I didn't hesitate and used Crescent Rose's recoil to boost me up to the Grimm, landing on its back and using it as a launch pad to leap even higher up to the second one I unfolded Crescent Rose into her scythe mode as I flew towards the Nevermore, hooking the blade around its neck to cut off the head. Strange how much easier this was now than it was when I first fought a Grimm of this size.

Meanwhile, Blake had used Gambol Shroud to create some steps for Yang to get up to the first Nevermore, which was still stuck.

I pushed myself off the Nevermore I had beheaded, its body already disintegrating around me. I fell directly towards a somewhat smaller Nevermore beneath me, and quickly switched Crescent Rose back into her sniper mode.

When the barrel hit the Nevermore directly between its eyes, I pulled the trigger and used the recoil to make a backflip towards my friends on the path. I wasn't close enough to make the leap, but I fired Crescent Rose again for a little extra boost that allowed me to safely land next to my teammates.

"Showoff," Yang said with a smirk.

She'd finished up the first Nevermore, and now the four of us were facing a whole swarm of smaller Nevermores that came flying towards us. "Wanna have a little competition?" Yang asked the rest of us.

"You're on," Weiss answered with a smirk.

I was surprised that she seemed so willing to compete, but it made me happy. "I'm not gonna lose either, you know," I said.

"Me neither," Blake added with a grin.

Seeing her actually smiling for a change fired me up even more and I began to track and shoot the smaller Nevermores out of the sky, followed by my friends opening fire as well. Weiss used fire Dust to throw small fireballs at the Grimm, while Yang used Ember Celica to punch rocks towards them. Blake simply used her gun.

Among the sounds of gunfire and Dust fireballs, I could hear Yang keeping count of her kills. I grinned widely and began to fire faster. No way was I going to allow her to beat me with this as well. Losing to her in video games was bad enough.

About two minutes later, the last of the Nevermores went down to a shot from Blake.

"Eighty-five," Yang said proudly.

"Eighty-six," Weiss said smugly.

"Ninety," Blake said even more smugly.

"Rubes? Don't tell me you beat me too," Yang pleaded.

"I have…" I began, pausing for dramatic effect, "Eighty-nine. Blake wins. I guess you get to pick dinner tonight."

"What?! I lost?! What and how?!" Yang exclaimed. "You must have cheated. Those two big ones don't count, you know!"

I smirked. "I didn't count them. I wanted to give you a chance," I said sweetly.

That wasn't, strictly speaking, true, but even without the two big Nevermores I still had eighty-seven kills, two more than Yang, so it didn't change anything.

"Ugh, I can't believe my little sister beat me," Yang grumbled.

"Don't let it hurt your ego, Yang, you did just fine," Weiss said.

"Thank you, Weiss, I…"

"Just slightly worse than the rest of us."

"I hate you."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over my eighty-six kills."

"I double hate you."

The banter between Weiss and Yang went on the entire way down the mountain. It was fun for the first ten minutes or so, but after that it began to get annoying.

"Can you please stop this?" I begged them as we headed into the forest the Nevermores had come out of.

"Not until Weiss admits I'm a superior person," Yang said stubbornly.

"Honestly, I thought Ruby was the little sister," Weiss mocked her.

"Please leave me out of this," I groaned as the volley of insults started up again.

"Just let them have their fun," Blake said, "After all, neither of them is as good as I am."

"What was that, kitty? Are you going to rub it in now as well?" Yang asked her acidly.

"I said no such thing. I'm just stating that I have ninety kills. Do with that info what you will," Blake said with an emotionless face.

"It just won't stop…" I muttered as we headed deeper into the forest.

Despite my annoyance, though, I was also happy that after everything we'd been through over the past weeks we could still act like the friends we were. It seemed liked that was the one thing untouched by the entire mission and I hoped with all my heart it would remain that way.

* * *

A couple of hours later Yang, Weiss, and Blake had finally stopped trading insults and we now walked in silence. The light that filtered through the trees was beginning to fade, so it was most likely getting dark out.

"We should probably find a place to camp out soon. It's starting to get dark and you know what happened last time we had to look for food in the dark."

About a week ago, we had been traveling through a dense part of the forest as well, and by the time we began to realize it had gotten dark we could barely see where we were going. We'd managed to get a fire going by cutting a tree down, but then we had to look for dinner without lights. We'd normally use our scrolls as torches, but Adam had destroyed them in the treetop base so in the end we'd crawled around, blind as bats, looking for food.

All of us, except Blake. Blake, who turned out to have a twisted sense of humor. We'd spent upwards of two hours looking for anything edible, only to have to make our way back to camp in the pitch darkness emptyhanded. When we got back, Blake had been waiting for us with a selection of mushrooms and herbs she'd found, as well as a bunch of bugs she assured us were edible.

Yang had been complaining about that all night while Blake calmly ate the mushrooms and stared at her. Back in the present, Yang shot Blake a dirty look and got a sweet smile in return.

We headed off the path and soon came across a small clearing. It wasn't much, but it was big enough to camp out for a night next to a small fire. We had to, because our sleeping bags had also been lost in our escape from the treetop base. Keeping warm with Aura is fine when you're awake, but when you're trying to sleep it's a lot harder.

"I'll go look for firewood. Weiss, can you help me? Blake and Yang, you're in charge of the food."

The others nodded. "Oh, and Yang? Blake gets to choose dinner, so be nice to her if you don't want to eat bugs."

Yang grumbled something in response, but she followed Blake into the undergrowth just the same. Weiss walked over to me. It was the first time in days we had some time alone, so when she stood next to me I gave her a quick kiss and said, "Okay, let's find some firewood."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me into the forest.

"Do you think we'll find anything on Menagerie?" Weiss asked me as we searched for any wood dry enough to burn.

"I hope so, especially for Blake's sake," I answered.

"I'm amazed she's doing this," Weiss admitted as she picked up a short branch. "I don't think I could face my past so readily."

I turned around to face her. "Why not?" I asked her. "Is it really that bad that you can't face it?" I went on a little softer, as if somehow the forest might have heard me otherwise.

Weiss looked troubled. "It's not that, but…it's not very pleasant either. I just…don't feel like I know my father anymore and I don't really know what to expect if I'd go back. Would I find the kind man I love, or would I find the cold businessman he became?" She shook her head. "It's so strange to see someone you love become more and more twisted into a shell of their former self. Blake went through that as well, but she's facing it now, while I'm still reluctant to even talk about it."

As she was talking, I had moved closer towards her. When she finished her sentence I wrapped my arms around her.

"You're talking about it now, though, aren't you?" I asked her.

I let her go to see her reaction. To my surprise, Weiss smiled lightly.

"That's because you're with me, you dolt," she said. "Maybe…maybe one day soon I'll tell you a bit more about my past. Who knows, it might even help me deal with it a bit better."

I grinned at her. "I'm always here to help my girlfriend," I told her.

"I know you are, and you have no idea how much that means to me," Weiss said softly.

I kissed the tip of her nose. "I think I have an idea," I said with a wink. "Let's find some more firewood and head back to camp. Yang's probably going to complain all night if we're late," I went on.

Weiss smirked. "I think I can deal with that."

With that, she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me in a way she'd never kissed me before. All sorts of feelings shot through me that would ordinarily not feel nice, but now somehow they were. Weiss let go of me and stared into my eyes, something which made my heart beat even faster than it had already been doing by the kiss alone. Thoughts I really shouldn't be having at this point shot through my head.

"We don't do this often enough," Weiss said so softly I barely heard her.

"No…we certainly don't," I replied stupidly. I couldn't think of anything else to say. Weiss's eyes just took all the words away from me. With great difficulty, I managed to tear my eyes away from hers. This was not the time and the place for…things, although I knew this night was going to be a huge pain for me unless I got a chance to sneak away for a bit.

Forcing my attention on the wood on the ground I managed to calm down my heart a bit while I looked for wood. I knew Weiss was feeling the same things, probably even thinking the same things as I was. Was it right? Wasn't it too soon to even think these things? For now, it didn't matter. First, we'd have to get to Menagerie. We'd see how things went from there, both with the mission and with my…feelings.

* * *

"Took you guys long enough," Yang said when we got back to the camp. "Were you getting your freak on, or something?"

I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks when she said that, but fortunately for me Weiss wasn't so easily flustered.

"In a forest? Are you insane? That's much too uncomfortable. I'll wait for a better chance, thank you very much."

"So you _would_ do it, if you had a chance?" Yang asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Is that a problem? If I recall correctly, _you_ were the one saying how we at least don't have to worry about unwanted pregnancies."

Yang opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish one dry land, but I probably wasn't looking much better at that moment. I knew Weiss was just messing with Yang, but the thought was far more appealing than I had ever thought possible. I quickly put down the firewood I had in the circle of stones Yang and Blake had put together.

"Weiss, can you light it?" I asked.

"She certainly lit _your_ fire," Yang grumbled, angrier at having her own words used against her than the notion of me and Weiss…doing stuff.

"I can, but I'm almost out of fire Dust. My ice Dust is just about out as well after that scuffle in the afternoon. We should probably get up early tomorrow and try to reach the ferry by nightfall."

"We can make it, I think," Blake said as Weiss lit the fire. "But we'll have to leave an hour earlier than normal. I'll take last watch so I can wake you up. I know when we'd have to leave."

We all agreed to that. Over dinner, we mercifully didn't revisit any uncomfortable topics. Yang's enthusiasm for them seemed to have been doused by Weiss. Instead, we talked about movies and books we knew. It was something to keep our minds off the things that lay ahead. To just get a night of relaxation that we might lack in the days to come. I didn't know what lay ahead, but I did know that I wouldn't want anyone else with me to face it. Especially the girl I could now, somehow, call my girlfriend.

 **And here we end another chapter. Not as long or heavy as the previous one, but important nonetheless. I'm honestly quite interested to know what you think about these developments. Don't be afraid to let me know! I hope to see you in the next chapter!**


	14. Menagerie

**Here it is, chapter fourteen, and man is it a long one. It's by far the longest chapter of the story and it's likely to remain so. I swear I don't plan to keep giving Weiss such enormous chapters, it just keeps happening. I always feel that characters have a certain autonomy, and in this chapter they just kept taking me along for the ride. You'll notice some parallels to Season 4 of the series here, but keep in mind: The characters you see, even if they have the same name and occasionally same dialogue, are not the exact ones from the show. This is a timeline split after Season 2 and some things blatantly contradict canon. Well, I've rambled on long enough. Please Read and Review. Your thoughts, both positive and negative, are welcomed.**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Menagerie**

Seagulls were wheeling overhead, looking for scraps of fish and the fries of unwary travelers, as we walked into the harbor where the ferry to Menagerie docked. We'd gotten up extremely early in the morning and while I'm normally fine with that, this time I had a bit of a harder time with it. Regardless, right now I considered my bad mood this morning worth it one hundred percent. The smell of the ocean was unmistakable and while the breeze was getting slightly chilly in the evening air I preferred it greatly to the endless forests we'd spent our time in almost exclusively while we traveled here. The vastness of the ocean and the infinite expanse of the sky above it, dark blue where it met the water but slightly lighter as it got closer to us, looked so open and welcoming it made me smile.

"You know, I heard that every time Weiss smiles, a puppy dies somewhere," Yang said to Blake and Ruby.

So much for my better mood. "Can you please not ruin this moment, you utter philistine?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"I'll consider it the moment you stop making up words," Yang replied.

"I am _not_ making up words! A philistine is a…"

"Yeah, whatever, bored now," Yang interrupted me.

I knew I shouldn't get into an argument with her. I knew she was just trying to rile me up, but that damn girl knew exactly how to get to me.

"Now listen here, you vulgarian, and maybe you'll learn something," I began, but Ruby stepped between us and said, "Look, I know it's fun to insult each other with words that may or may not exist, but shouldn't we get tickets for the boat first?"

I sputtered incoherently while Yang wrapped an arm around Ruby and said, "Look at you acting all grown up. You're starting to become responsible, sis."

Ruby beamed so widely that I almost got my smile back, but of course Yang once again had to ruin things. "So I assume that you, as our responsible leader, are going to buy us all tickets?"

Ruby's smile froze on her face. "Well, um, I don't exactly have any money," she said sheepishly.

Yang sighed and feigned disappointment. "And you were doing so well earlier. Now who will we turn to? Perhaps…our heiress can get us tickets?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm sure these Faunus will bend over backwards to accommodate the daughter of someone they hate," I said.

Before Yang could make another remark, Blake spoke up. "I can get the tickets."

"That's great!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, Blakey, I knew we could count on you," Yang said.

Blake didn't smile. "It's probably better if you wait outside. Friendly or not, it's not very common for Humans to go to Menagerie."

The way she said that sent a chill through my body. The implied threat was clear. These were the Faunus us Humans had essentially shipped away after the Great War. They lived outside of the protection of the kingdoms. It wouldn't be unthinkable for them to still hold a grudge even now, years later. Was making this trip really the smart idea? I took a deep breath. There wasn't any point in worrying about this now. If we ran into trouble, we'd deal with it then.

As Blake headed into the sole building that lined the dock, which seemed strangely small for a ferry's dock, I realized that despite Blake's warning about Humans only rarely venturing out to Menagerie, no one was giving us the time of day. The four of us were filthy from weeks of travel without any gear but our weapons and three of us were Humans, but the Faunus milling around the dock, passengers and staff alike, didn't seem to notice or care.

When I looked closer, I began to see why. Many of the Faunus were just as disheveled as we were, and despite the good state of the building and the docks it was obvious that living out here, even just coming here for the ferry, was a perilous undertaking at best.

"Man, I'll be so glad to take a shower. It's a miracle mushrooms haven't started growing in my…"

"Yang!" Ruby interrupted her sharply.

"What? I was going to say pits…"

Yang sounded incredibly unconvincing, and I was grateful Ruby had cut her off when she did.

"Despite your boorish way of phrasing it, I agree with you," I said. "I'm pretty sure this outfit is ripe for the incinerator after this is over."

"I think that would officially count as an environmental hazard…although come to think of it, your family was never too bothered about that," Yang replied with a smirk.

Despite myself, I chuckled. "If you'd use your intelligence to pay attention in Port's classes instead of coming up with jokes you wouldn't have so much remedial work," I said.

Yang grinned widely. "But there's no enjoyment to be had in that. I think I'll stick with the jokes, especially since you're just such an easy target."

I rolled my eyes at her, but I kept quiet since Blake returned. She quietly handed us tickets. Something immediately stood out on them, and that was the stylish golden lettering which said 'Gold Class'.

"Gold Class?! Blake, how did you…?" I asked, my mouth dropping opening in astonishment.

"I'll…tell you later," Blake said evasively. "For now, we have forty minutes left until the ferry arrives, so we could go and check out the trading post while we wait."

I wondered why she was so eager to change the subject, but going by my own experiences I guessed simply being here was difficult for her. Still, there was a time and place for everything. Blake said she'd tell us more later and ever since we'd gone on this journey she hadn't yet failed to give us any relevant information.

In response to Blake's suggestion, I said, "Checking out the trading post sounds fine. Let's be sure to be here at least ten minutes in advance, though. It wouldn't do for us to have to wait for the morning ferry."

Blake smiled. "Don't worry. The ferry will be docked for half an hour to give everyone time to get aboard and it's not uncommon for it to be a bit longer than that if there are rows."

I gave a nod to show my satisfaction, and said, "Well, let's go then."

* * *

Half an hour later, we were back outside in the docking area, which was now beginning to fill up with Faunus getting ready to board. Many of them carried suitcases and backpacks, but an equally large number had nothing more than a small duffel bag with them. We sat on a bench, watching the coming and going of the passengers and the crew members preparing for the arrival of the ferry, which was visible on the horizon as an ever-growing speck of light.

I was surprised at the apparent lack of guards at this dock. The surrounding paths had been suspiciously bare of guard towers as well. I had expected a higher concentration of Grimm here, and apparently Blake noticed me scanning the area, because she said, "There are more guards here than you can see. Some of these crew members have had at least partial Huntsman training and the trading post has machine gun ports on the upper floor."

She pointed at the green corrugated steel wall of the hangar that housed the trading post and ticket booths. In the harsh light of the floodlights, I could see faint outlines in it, confirming Blake's story.

"They keep the weapons hidden as much as possible to ease the minds of the passengers. If the weapons are not in sight, then even if the people know they're there, they will still be less prone to fear of attack and so attract fewer Grimm. It's something the White Fang came up with back when…back when they were still standing up for the Faunus," she went on with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

I nodded, impressed at the forethought the White Fang had once had. From what I had seen of them, and from the stories I had heard in my youth about the atrocities they committed against my family, I had begun to assume at some point that they were all brutes who could think of nothing but violence. This small thing reminded me that I had once believed them to be just looking out for their comrades and trying to save lives, and that that notion, which I had grown to dismiss as laughably naïve, hadn't always been wrong.

I looked at the horizon and saw that the ferry was now almost here. It was smaller than I had expected it to be, but I could still see the rows of small, circular windows behind which lay the passenger cabins. It had two decks of passenger cabins, beneath which were obvious gun hatches. Along the flank of the ship, at regular intervals, there was a small, green light. On the bow of the ship, rather than a sun deck there was a massive, double-barreled cannon. The bridge towered high above the cannon to get a clear view of the ocean ahead.

All in all, this ship looked more like a military frigate than a civilian ferry, but I knew that aquatic Grimm were regularly much larger than their terrestrial counterparts and that these guns were probably the bare necessities to deal with them. Slowly, the ship slid into its dock.

The four of us watched in silence as the crew members both on and off the ship were attaching the heavy mooring chains to their posts amidst much yelling and gesturing. Eventually, two gangplanks were lowered. To my surprise, no people were getting off the boat on either one of them. Instead, I saw a stream of people emerging from the second pier, which lay behind the ship from where we were sitting.

Only a short time later a Faunus with prominent tusks and a moustache which would put Professor Port to shame bellowed into a megaphone that boarding was now commencing. Gold Class passengers were to line up at the fore gangplank, everyone else at the aft one. I knew just enough about nautical terms to know it meant we would be boarding at the front of the ship. We queued up with the other Gold Class passengers.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a bit nervous. Despite my current appearance, I still wore the Schnee family crest on my back. It was a miracle that no one had mentioned it so far and I dearly hoped my luck would hold.

Slowly, we advanced up the gangplank. It was strange that all four of us were so quiet. All of us were lost in our own thoughts. I could imagine why Blake was silent, but it was unusual for Ruby and Yang to be this subdued, especially since Ruby was in the presence of guns big enough to satisfy any gun nut. Then again, maybe that was the very reason she was quiet. It wasn't every day you saw old-fashioned shipborne cannons rather than the more high tech armaments on airships.

The Faunus in front of us were now being cleared and I readied my ticket. Blake turned to the rest of us and said, "Let me do the talking." She then turned to the purser and said, "Four of us, all under Belladonna."

The purser's eyes widened briefly, but then he nodded slowly and beckoned us to come closer. He inspected the tickets and let his eyes wander over the rest of us, occasionally shooting a glance at Blake. His eyes narrowed when they met mine and I felt a drop of sweat rolling down my neck under his scrutiny. Eventually, though, he nodded.

"Welcome aboard. Your cabin is portside, second deck. At the top of the stairs turn left. Cabin fifteen is yours."

Blake thanked him and we headed over the other side of the ship.

"So Blake, what did he mean by _cabin_ , singular? Didn't we have Gold Class tickets?" Yang asked as we walked.

Blake nodded. "Yes, and that means we have a room with just the four of us. Other people have to share their cabins with as many as twelve people. Gold Class members have two bunk beds and a shower and toilet to themselves. The ship might be large, but it's not a cruise ship. It's meant to ferry people across to Menagerie and the mainland, so some comforts have to be sacrificed on the trip."

Yang whistled between her teeth. "And despite that you managed to get us the top seats on this ship? You never cease to amaze me."

"Here it is, cabin fifteen," Blake said, giving no acknowledgment of Yang's remark.

Again, I recognized it as an attempt to quickly change the subject. Fortunately, Yang did as well and she didn't press the issue. For all her lack of manners she was by no means stupid. Blake opened the door and we entered into the room. It was sparsely equipped, with just two basic bunk beds with a small reading light above each of the beds, two racks on which to hang clothing, and a door I presumed led to the shower. That door suddenly began to exert a magnetic pull on me as I fantasized about being clean for even the shortest amount of time before I had to get back into my horribly dirty clothes.

"Not yet, Weiss," Blake warned me when she saw me drifting towards the shower. "The water won't come on until we're underway. When the ship is stationary it runs on low power to conserve fuel. It's not easy for the Faunus to get hold of enough Dust to keep the ferries running, after all."

I felt a pang of guilt when she said that. It was my father's business practice that left this ferry service undersupplied and I resolved that once I had control of the company, I'd bring change to that.

Ruby, meanwhile, had pulled herself up onto the top left bunk bed, the same spot she occupied at Beacon.

"Beds are amazing!" she exclaimed as she lay spread-eagled on it. "I will never underestimate this gift of the gods again," she went on, wrapping herself in the sheets and burying her face in the pillow.

Yang followed her lead and pulled herself up into her own bunk bed. "I have a feeling these beds are just about as hard as the one in that outpost in Vale," she said, "But this just might be the most comfortable bed I've ever been in."

I walked over to the beds as well. "Come on, I know we've been living rough lately, but how good can these beds possibly…"

I was silenced as I felt the colds sheets beneath me. Yes, the mattress was hard, but it was absolutely divine. "Forget I said anything…" I mumbled as I lay down.

I could feel every muscle in my body as I lay there. How could anything feel this good? All my life I'd slept in the best beds Remnant had to offer, but this rickety bed on an old ferry had them all beat.

A heavy rumble went through the ship and the lights in the cabin flickered briefly as the engines came back on and the ship was getting ready to depart.

"The trip will take about eighteen hours," Blake said. "We can get food in the mess hall downstairs. Our Gold Class tickets will give us access to the more luxurious part of the hall so it shouldn't be too crowded there. Still, just for safety, you should all stay close to me. It may not look it, but again, Humans going to Menagerie are rare. The other Faunus will leave you alone when I'm there, but I don't want any of us to get in trouble on board of this ship."

Another vibration ran through the ship and I felt how it slowly began to move. "I suggest we first get a shower, and then some food and proper sleep," Blake went on.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Yang agreed.

"It sounds perfect to me," Ruby said sleepily. She hadn't moved since she'd wrapped herself up in her blanket and I was surprised she was still awake.

"I think that sounds great as well. So…who gets to shower first?" I asked hesitantly.

I didn't want to ask at all, in fact I'd intended to just get up and claim the bathroom for the next three hours, but I knew that Yang would make more stupid Schnee jokes if I did. I hoped my diplomatic gesture would work out for me.

"Dibs!"

So much for diplomacy. "Yang…" I pleaded.

She grinned widely at me. "I'm just pulling your leg, Weiss. I saw you eyeing that shower from the moment we got here. Not even I am cruel enough to keep it from you. But I warn you, if the warm water runs out because of you there will be hell to pay."

I was too grateful to her for letting me go first that I ignored her threat entirely as I got up and turned around to take a shower. Part of me was slightly ashamed that my heart was pounding faster at the notion of being able to shower again, but a far larger part of me stared at the door as I walked towards it, completely entranced. I opened the door as if it was the door to a temple and flicked the small light switch on the right of the entrance.

The light flickered to life and revealed the bathroom. The whole room was covered in sickly green tiles. It had a shower with an old curtain, which was suspiciously yellow on the bottom. There was a toilet which, while clean, looked to be dated sometime before the Great War and a sink with a small, flaky mirror above it. The sink had a large crack in it. On a towel rack hung four towels of differing colors, but at least they had the same size. A bath rug which had seen better days finished off the picture. In short, it was heaven. I locked the door behind me and as I turned on the hot water I was fully prepared to face Yang's wrath if I had to. I wasn't going to come out of this shower for a long time.

* * *

With a sigh, I lay back on my bed. I felt better than I had in weeks. Despite the fact that I was again clad in clothes that were probably a health hazard all on their own by now, I felt clean. The food from the mess hall, prepared with actual utensils rather than being spiked on a sharp stick and held over a fire for ten minutes, filled my stomach and gave me an actually satisfied feeling instead of pangs of hunger and a bad aftertaste. Best of all, I had covers to keep me warm. I didn't feel the bizarre experience of being cooked on one side by the campfire and freezing my backside off on the other.

Aside from the rumblings of the ship, everything was quiet. None of us were really in the mood for talking, not with the possibility of a good night's sleep for once. We wouldn't have to rotate sleep schedules, wouldn't have to worry about a sneak attack by any Grimm.

I lay in the dark with open eyes, staring at the bed above me which I could only faintly make out in the little bit of light that came into the cabin through its small, curtain-less windows. It was almost like we were back at Beacon for one night.

When I closed my eyes, I recalled the little moment I'd had with Ruby the evening before, while we were gathering firewood. Even now, feeling dead tired, something stirred within in me at the thought of it. Over the past weeks, I'd begun looking at Ruby in a different way. I hadn't had much time to think about it, but when I'd agreed to be Ruby's girlfriend that had been a decision based mostly on emotions. Only now, having had four weeks to observe her more openly than I'd ever done, I had begun to also become very much attracted to her physically.

Obviously, there are certain desires that go along with that. Now, we weren't really in a position to have much physical contact beyond the occasional hug or kiss, but there was an alternative. I believe Yang once referred to it as 'self-service'. Over the past weeks, I'd seen the chance to indulge in it once or twice, but having to watch out for both your teammates and sudden attacks of horrible monsters of darkness tends to put a bit of a damper on things. Now, however… Still visualizing Ruby and me in the woods, I moved my hand downwards.

* * *

I woke up in a position that would have been compromising if I hadn't been covered. Realizing I'd fallen asleep without getting anything done was rather annoying, but it couldn't be helped. Judging by the light level in the cabin, the sun had been up for quite some time already before I woke up.

I glanced over at the other bed to see that my teammates were still asleep. I stretched and decided to go for another shower before everyone else woke up and tried to claim it. Just like the night before, showering was amazing. Even after just one night, the grime from my clothes had already managed to stick to my body again and washing it off, however temporarily, was blissful.

I exited the bathroom refreshed and much more awake than I'd been before. The others had also begun to wake up, and they sat on the edges of the lower beds talking.

"Good morning, Weiss," Ruby said as I approached.

"Good morning," I replied. I sat down next to her and she gave me a quick kiss, blushing lightly when Yang smirked at her.

"We'll be arriving in a little under an hour," Blake said. "They just announced it over the intercom while you were in the shower."

That meant that it was already past noon. Given that I went to bed at ten, max, I must have been a lot more tired than I'd realized for me to sleep that long.

"So, shower, breakfast, and then hang around on deck until we arrive?" Yang suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Ruby agreed.

Blake just nodded. I got the feeling that now, this close to Menagerie, she would become more and more withdrawn until we'd spoken to her parents and hopefully gotten a new lead to go on. Even then, though, we'd have to stay on Menagerie until Dr. Oobleck would rejoin us. I had no idea if he had even managed to get back to Beacon yet, let alone if he'd talked to Headmaster Ozpin or Qrow. I hoped for Blake's sake he'd managed to bring the news across and that he would be waiting for us on Menagerie.

* * *

After a large breakfast, we headed onto the front deck of the ferry. We walked past the enormous cannon, which thankfully hadn't seen any action through the night, or if it did I hadn't noticed it. Ahead of us, we saw Menagerie. I'd only ever seen it on maps and it had never really occurred to me until this very moment how big it really was.

"Straight ahead is the port of Kuo Kuana," Blake said, pointing at the town in the distance.

The lands around the town seemed to be mostly green. All in all it gave off an 'island paradise' vibe from here.

"This is the town I was born in. It's Menagerie's largest and most important town, though it's nothing like Vale or Mistral," Blake went on. "Most people here are very nice, but anti-Human sentiments are strong here. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself when we get there."

She turned to look at me. "They might insult you for your family. Please, don't argue with them. I know you'll want to tear into them, but we can't use a brawl right now."

I nodded slowly. It wouldn't be the first time people made assumptions about me based on who I was, but it wasn't often that I couldn't retaliate at all. Still, I agreed with Blake that we should avoid unnecessary hostilities, so even though I'd probably have to bite my tongue a couple of times I was sure I'd manage.

Ruby grabbed my hand and gave it a little squeeze. I gave her a sideways look and she smiled brightly at me. Knowing she'd have my back no matter what was a reassuring thought.

We'd by now approached the dock and the ship had already started slowing down. Sailors were running all over the deck, barking orders and preparing for the ferry's arrival. An announcement over the intercom reminded us to take care of our belongings and to leave the ship via the portside ramps.

Blake's mouth was nothing more than a thin line when the ferry began its docking procedure in earnest and her shoulders were tense, very much unlike her usual grace. I stood next to Blake and whispered, "It's going to be fine, Blake. Your parents aren't going to judge you."

She gave me a grim stare, but she nodded almost imperceptibly. "Deep breaths. You can do it," I told her.

Blake closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, she whispered, "Thanks, Weiss."

I smiled at her and hoped my words would help her a bit. I honestly didn't know what else I could do to make this easier for her. While I knew, sort of, what she was going through I was by no means an expert at dealing with it. The gangplanks were now being dropped and an announcement came over the intercom telling us we were free to disembark.

Blake took the lead as we descended the ramp and finally set foot on Menagerie after four weeks. The docks themselves had a small marketplace behind them, beyond which the town proper began. The houses were made of wood and mostly built on short poles, possibly to allow for springtides. Unlike the buildings in Vale and Mistral, here the houses were built in a loose gathering. Palm trees dotted the landscape. In the distance, there was a huge house that looked like it would belong to the…mayor? Chieftain? King? To my embarrassment, I didn't really know how society worked here on Menagerie. For all I knew that building served some kind of public function.

"So, where are we going?" Yang asked Blake.

Blake took a deep breath and pointed in the direction of the huge building.

"Wait, your parents live _there_?" Yang asked incredulously.

Blake nodded, almost embarrassed. "My father is the chieftain of Kuo Kuana," she said, "And he was the previous leader of the White Fang."

My blood ran cold. So this was it. This was the reason Blake had kept her past hidden the way she had. I'd known that her parents used to be part of the White Fang, but I never would have guessed that they were the leaders of it. Now, her reluctance to come back here began to make more sense to me as well. Her parents had stepped down when the White Fang became more militant, but Blake had stayed. Their daughter had gone against their ideals, and that was something I knew well. My father had been apocalyptically angry when I announced my intention to attend Beacon, and I expected that Blake's decision to stay in the White Fang after its change of leaders wouldn't have sat well with her parents either.

Judging by the Ruby and Yang's silence, this had come completely out of the blue for them as well. "Wha…leader…what?!" Yang eventually managed.

Blake looked away. "It was different then. When the White Fang's sentiment began to go to terrorism rather than peaceful protest, my father was forced to step down. He did so without complaint because he didn't want to shed blood when he advocated peace and understanding. I…didn't leave with them."

Blake stopped talking and took a couple of deep breaths. When she resumed her story, her voice had grown incredibly strained. "At the time, I thought the militants were right," she nearly whispered. "Peaceful protest wasn't enough; we had to make our voices heard and if holding up signs wasn't going to do it, we'd use weapons."

She laughed bitterly, still not looking at us. "Look how well that turned out. I never wanted things to go as far as they did, but anyone with eyes could have told you this is where we were heading. I was just too blind to see it."

Finally, she faced us again. Her eyes were full of tears. "I've fought with my parents over this. They tried to make me see reason but I just wouldn't listen and Adam…Adam just egged me on. I thought he cared about me. I thought that he, too, wanted eventual peace even if we had to resort to violence to be heard now, but all he ever cared about was himself and the destruction of all Humans."

She shook her head angrily. "How could I not see any of this?! How can I face my parents now…?"

Before Blake could beat herself up even more, Yang had wrapped her arms around her. She didn't say anything, she just held Blake, who now stood there as if she'd been struck by lightning. Ruby and I just stared, both of us completely lost for words. I'd known that Blake had been a part of the White Fang, of course, and I knew that the White Fang had become more militant, but I'd never realized that at one point, she had agreed with the violent faction. Maybe I should have. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her. How could I? She was so wracked with guilt over it now that there was no way anyone could hold this against her.

Eventually, Yang let go of Blake and looked into her eyes.

"Blake, what you did in the past doesn't matter anymore," she said. "You've more than made up for the things you did in the White Fang."

"But I..."

"Who cares?!" Yang shouted, her Semblance flaring to life as she lost her temper. Seeing Blake torturing herself obviously made her livid. "Who cares that you agreed with them then?! You don't now, and that's all that matters to me! Do you seriously believe that some old skeletons in your closet could make me think otherwise?"

Yang's Semblance faded out and her eyes returned to their normal colors. "I care about you, Blake. We've all done stupid things in our past and I don't want you to keep torturing yourself over it. I won't let you destroy yourself with guilt. You have your teammates with you, you always will. You'll always have _me_ ," she finished softly, looking more earnest and vulnerable than I'd ever seen her before.

This time it was Blake who threw her arms around Yang, and Yang gently held her as Blake buried her face in Yang's hair.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered with a choked voice.

"It'll be alright," Yang said gently. "And believe me, I'm sure your parents will say the same thing."

Blake let go of Yang and looked at her. Yang replied with a small smile.

"Thank you," Blake said. Then she turned to face Ruby and me. "And thank you too, for being here with me. Yang…all of you…I can do this thanks to you," she said.

"And we wouldn't want to do this without you," Ruby replied with a wide smile.

"I haven't been through the same things as you have," I said, "But I can relate to you. You're one of the bravest people I know and I'll have your back any time you need me to."

Yes, that sounded incredibly dorky. I honestly didn't care right then, because it was just about all I felt I could say without making a complete fool of myself. At that very moment, there wasn't anyone alive I admired more than Blake. Scared or not, she was going to face the parents she left on bad terms, and that was something I still didn't dare.

Blake took a deep breath and looked at all of us. "Come on. Let's go meet my parents."

* * *

We arrived at the mansion and with every step we took toward the door, I got more nervous. I was pretty sure my father would disown me if he knew where I was now. He might not be evil, he certainly wouldn't appreciate me visiting one of his worst enemies. Then again, Blake's parents didn't condone terrorism. But how would they react to a Schnee suddenly standing on their doorstep?

We reached the massive, wooden doorway. It had a large, bronze knocker on it, shaped like an animal that resembled a wolf. Blake knocked twice and then took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She wasn't the only one.

After a short moment, the door was opened by a woman with black hair and cat ears. She looked like an older Blake. She let her eyes wander over our group, confusion plain in her eyes until her eyes fell on Blake.

"Blake!"

Without giving her a chance to respond, Blake's mother had wrapped her arms around her.

"It's been so long," she said emotionally. She let go of Blake and looked at the rest of us. "You must be Blake's friends. My name is Kali Belladonna. I'm Blake's mother. Why don't you follow me inside and you can meet Ghira, my husband, and we can get acquainted."

She looked back at Blake and smiled widely. She kissed her forehead and said, "It's so good to have you back here."

Through all of it, Blake had just stood there with her eyes full of tears. Now, she dried her eyes with the back of her hand and returned her mother's smile.

We followed Mrs. Belladonna inside and were led to a circular room with a low table.

"Why don't you take a seat here? I'll make some tea and get Ghira. He's in his study right now, but he'll definitely want to see you, Blake. And meet your friends, of course," Mrs. Belladonna added with a warm smile to the rest of us.

We sat down and Mrs. Belladonna left the room. "I told you you had nothing to worry about," Yang said.

Blake shook her head. "It just feels so unreal to be back here, you know? In all my dreams, I never thought…"

She fell silent, but there was still a smile on her face.

"Your mom seems like a great person," Ruby said. I thought I heard a very slight undertone of sadness in her voice, but maybe I was just imagining that because I knew about her situation.

I thought back to the grave on Patch and how I'd promised Ruby's mother I'd keep her safe. I hoped that I could keep my word.

"She is," Blake simply replied.

I wondered if Mrs. Belladonna had simply not recognized me or if she really didn't care that I was a Schnee, but I hoped her father would react the same way. Mrs. Belladonna returned with a tray of cups and a pot of tea.

As she was pouring everyone a drink, a massive man entered the room. He had black hair, yellow eyes, an enormous beard, and he wore an open, purple coat which looked regal and displayed his chest, which looked wide enough to fill up our room back at Beacon.

Just like Mrs. Belladonna had done, he scanned our group first before resting his eyes on Blake, who got up and approached him. He drew her into an embrace and said, "I'm so happy to see you again." His voice was deep, but kind.

"I'm happy too," Blake said. She looked from one parent to the other. "I was afraid that after last time…"

Her father held up a hand that dwarfed any shovel I'd ever seen. "We never held anything against you, and I never feared you would fail. The only thing I ever feared was that you would fall down the wrong path, and I am so proud to see you haven't."

He gently led Blake back to her seat and sat down next to his wife.

"So," he began, "You are Blake's friends?"

We all nodded.

"My name is Ghira Belladonna. I'm the chieftain of Kuo Kuana, and I am also Blake's father. Now, who are you?"

Ruby spoke up first. "My name is Ruby Rose. I'm a student at Beacon Academy in Vale, and my dream is to become a Huntress to make the world a better place. I'm Blake's teammate and her friend."

Yang was the next one to speak up. I didn't mind at all, because I wanted to keep the atmosphere light for as long as I could.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long. I'm Ruby's sister and teammate at Beacon. Blake is my partner there."

Of course Yang would keep it short. So at last it was my turn. I took a deep breath and said, "My name is Weiss Schnee." I saw Mr. Belladonna's eyes narrow at that, but I kept going. "I'm in a team with Ruby, Yang, and Blake at Beacon Academy."

I fell silent, unsure of what else to say.

"A Schnee, huh? I never thought I'd have someone from that particular family over for tea," Mr. Belladonna said.

I was getting more nervous by the second, but then he said, "Well, if you're a friend of Blake's you're welcome here. It would not do for me to hold the transgressions of your family against you personally. That is not and will never be my way of doing things."

I nearly fell over out of gratitude. Unlike Qrow, who'd begun to heckle me immediately, Mr. Belladonna was willing to look past his first impressions and give me a fair chance. How could Blake have feared that such a man would reject her?

"So, Blake, how is life at Beacon?" Mrs. Belladonna asked her.

"It's great. There are a lot of nice people there aside from my teammates and Headmaster Ozpin never made any fuss about who I am," Blake replied.

"That's good to hear. So, what brings you to Menagerie?" her mother asked her.

Blake's face fell. "The White Fang," she said bitterly.

"The White Fang? I thought you had left them," Mr. Belladonna said with a raised eyebrow.

"I have," Blake assured him. "They are our enemies right now."

Mr. Belladonna's eyes widened. "Have things gotten so bad that you need to raise your weapon against your brothers now?"

Blake cocked her head. "You mean you don't know? The White Fang has been working with a Human criminal called Roman Torchwick for months. We don't know what they're planning, but they suddenly seem to have access to high-grade military hardware."

Mr. Belladonna growled. "Fennec and Corsac assured me that the most militant part of the White Fang was a rogue group," he said through gritted teeth.

Blake shook her head. "Adam Taurus is one of the leaders of the White Fang now. He's apparently working with Redhorn as well, over in Vacuo, and they've already pulled off operations in Vale and Mistral. I don't know about Atlas." Mr. Belladonna sighed. "This sounds like it could be a long story. Tell me everything," he said.

Blake nodded and began to tell the story. Everything that had happened, from the first time we confronted Torchwick and the White Fang to the mission we were currently on was mentioned. Officially, we were supposed to keep our true goals a secret, but since we had come here hoping to gain a lead it made no sense to hold back any information.

When Blake reached the part where we had been captured by Adam, Mr. Belladonna looked positively murderous. His wife put a hand on his arm and whispered, "Let Blake continue her story, Ghira."

Mr. Belladonna nodded, but he still looked angry. Blake explained how we'd escaped only to realize that Adam had actually let us go in order to send us on another wild goose chase.

"…and that's why we came here," Blake finished. "We were hoping you might have any information on what the White Fang are doing right now."

Mr. Belladonna nodded slowly. "I see." He thought for a moment and then said, "Right now, I don't know what the White Fang is up to. Evidently, the people who were supposed to keep me informed are either misinformed themselves or outright lying. I will not stand for innocent victims made in the White Fang's name, so I will do what I can in order to help you. I will make some calls to friends of mine on other continents. You and your friends are welcome to spend the night here, because I'm sure it will take me some time to explain the situation to them without revealing your involvement. I don't want Adam getting wind of your presence here, so I have to tread carefully." He smiled. "Good thing we cats are good at that."

Mrs. Belladonna smiled in a really creepy way at her husband's 'joke', while Blake just covered her face with her hands. Yang, though, reached out with her hand for a high five, which Mr. Belladonna returned with an amused look. Ruby shot me an uncertain look. She clearly didn't know whether to laugh out of politeness, or just not react at all. I gave noncommittal shrug for an answer. Before any more awkward jokes could be made, Mr. Belladonna got up.

"I'll get to work on getting you a lead immediately." He paused and looked at us intently. "In the meantime, why don't you head out to the market and purchase some new gear? I know you lost everything in the swamp base, so I'll give you some money."

"Sir, that's very kind of you," I began, "But I'd feel really guilty accepting that considering who I am."

Mr. Belladonna shrugged. "From what I just heard you are a true friend to Blake and that is all that matters to me. I want to see my daughter happy, and that means I can't just turn my back on their friends. You all watch Blake's back on a daily basis, and for that a bit of money is more than worth it to ensure you can keep doing so."

I was honestly touched by his generosity. This man had met us only a few hours ago and now he was already using his own money to help us. It really made me wish the White Fang was still under his command. I bowed my head and thanked Mr. Belladonna for his help, and then the four of us began to head for the door.

"Blake, if you make sure you're back at eight, we'll have dinner together," Mrs. Belladonna said.

Blake smiled at her. "Alright, mom. See you in a bit!"

* * *

It was strange to shop for clothes on Menagerie. I was used to high-class and silent boutiques where an impeccably dressed member of the staff would help me find what I wanted, but here it was utterly chaotic. The market had a surprising variety of clothes, but it was hard to find things that matched with each other.

In the end, though, we all managed to pick up backpacks, sleeping bags, and some sets of clothing for the rest of our trip. Mr. Belladonna had given us a truly staggering amount of money, especially considering the prices on the market, so we were fully equipped when we began to head back to the mansion.

Despite Blake's warnings before we came here, no one bothered us for being Human, although I did suspect at least one of the salesmen tried to pull the wool over our eyes, at least until he recognized Blake.

The main new outfit I'd bought consisted of a very light blue combat skirt and a jacket in a shade of blue that was just a little bit darker but still close enough to be pleasing to the eye. Ruby had managed to find a black corset with red laces, as well as an anthracite combat skirt and some new leggings, Yang had gotten herself some new shorts, a yellow shirt that seemed to outshine the sun, and a short, black jacket.

Blake had only purchased new traveling gear, explaining that she still had clothes at home so she didn't need to buy any. "It's really weird to be able to say that," she reflected as we walked back.

Ever since we'd met her parents her mood had improved considerably, and to be honest I shared her happiness somewhat. Ghira was not one of Adam's goons, and so any information he would be able to find on any White Fang activities would most likely be worth checking out. Sure, there was a chance his informants were dishonest, but even if they were anything was better than following Adam's false trail.

When we arrived back at the mansion, Mrs. Belladonna was waiting for us. "Ah, you're back. Did you all find the supplies you need?" she asked.

When we all answered to the affirmative, she smiled widely. "That's good to hear. I just received a call from the inn down at the docks. Someone has checked in who said he would be waiting for you there, but he declined to come over for dinner."

"That must have been Dr. Oobleck, our teacher," Blake said.

"Ah, the one who went back to Vale to warn the Headmaster," Mrs. Belladonna said. "Well, you should probably go meet him there first thing in the morning, then. I'm sure he won't mind if you spend the night here. After all, it's probably safer for you here."

"About that," I said hesitantly, "Blake said that there was reasonably strong anti-Human sentiment here, but we haven't noticed anything so far."

Mrs. Belladonna looked grim. "They wouldn't show themselves during the day. Most people here are very friendly, and the ones who want to destroy all Humans, both White Fang members and unaffiliated Faunus, are outnumbered. There have been many reports of incidents happening during the night, however. That's why I think it would be better for you to stay here. Your teacher is a fully-qualified Huntsman, but my conscience won't allow my daughter or her friends to get hurt if it's not necessary."

I smiled at her. "Thank you for taking such great care of us," I said sincerely. I was fairly certain my mother would have done the same thing, but my father probably wouldn't.

Mrs. Belladonna waved away my compliment. "It's nothing, dear. I do it with love. Now, let's eat some dinner."

We followed her back into the circular room we'd been in earlier and shortly after we sat down, Mrs. Belladonna brought in a wide variety of sushi rolls on a large plate. I saw Blake almost beginning to drool just watching it. She wasn't the only one, however. Both Ruby and Yang were looking at the food with a manic hunger on their faces. I had to admit, the food looked absolutely amazing. Even Mr. Belladonna seemed impressed by it. He shot his wife a questioning look.

"It's a special occasion," Mrs. Belladonna said simply. "Not only is Blake back with us, she even made great friends at Beacon."

Mr. Belladonna smiled. "Yes, that's true." He picked up his glass of water and raised it up. "To Blake's return, and to her friends."

We all raised our glasses in response and then dug into the food. In all my life, I'd never tasted sushi this good. I guess that, being cats, Blake's family's standards for seafood were higher than those of any Human or non-feline Faunus.

"This is so good," Ruby squealed as she loaded her plate up with rolls of every variety of roll and then began inhaling them. It was a disgusting sight, yet utterly mesmerizing.

"You know, sis, you should try it with some wasabi," Yang said innocently.

To my surprise, Ruby shuddered and shot her sister a death glare. "It wasn't funny then and it isn't funny now," she with a pout and rice all around her mouth.

Blake and I looked at each other in complete confusion. "Dare I ask what happened?" I asked Ruby.

Before Ruby could reply, however, Yang had already launched into the story. "When Ruby was about ten, we went for sushi in Vale one time with dad. It was Ruby's first time eating real sushi, and I'd convinced her that the proper way of eating sushi was to richly coat it in wasabi. Of course she knew me, so she suspected a trick. Then I told her…" Yang had to stifle her own laughter, while Ruby stared at her plate so intently I feared she might pierce through it. "I told her that since wasabi is green, there was no way it could be spicy, and she believed me." Yang doubled over laughing. "She put an entire tube of wasabi on one sushi roll and ate it. I've never seen anyone going from happy to screaming in abject horror so quickly before or since."

"And your father said nothing?" I asked, equal parts amused and horrified.

Yang shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she recalled the moment. "He likes a joke as much as I do. His words after Ruby accused him of betrayal – you know, after she had regained her voice and drunk half the ocean to dull the pain – were 'she has to learn somehow'. Dad of the year award, right there," she said.

Mr. Belladonna looked at Ruby's dejected look and burst out laughing, while Mrs. Belladonna just looked concerned.

"It gets even better, you know," Yang went on.

"Yang!" Ruby interrupted her. To my surprise, she was actually angry now.

Yang looked at Ruby, saw how angry she was, and immediately put her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I won't tell." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Rubes. I was just joking, honestly."

Ruby smiled at her. It surprised me how quickly Ruby could go from 'radiating murderous intent' to 'regular happy' in what seemed like microseconds. "Thanks," she just said, and then she went on wolfing down sushi rolls.

Blake's parents had looked at the sudden double mood swing with amazement.

"Is this normal for you?" Mr. Belladonna asked Blake.

Blake simply nodded. "This is quite tame, really," she said. "We once had a food fight with another team that destroyed the entire cafeteria. I think Yang was airborne for about two minutes," she went on with a grin.

Yang returned her grin and said, "Only a minute and a half, but man Nora hits hard. I can't wait for the rematch." She cracked her knuckles.

We spent the rest of the night telling stories of our life at Beacon and the things we'd seen and done. Blake's parents were very interested in Beacon's curriculum and asked many questions about the teachers and our subjects.

Eventually, Mrs. Belladonna stood up and said, "I don't want to cut this conversation short, but I think it's best for the four of you to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I've prepared the guest room for you. I understand that at Beacon, teams share a room, so I prepared a single room for the four of you. Unless, of course, you prefer your own rooms?"

We simultaneously declined. After spending so long together, I had to admit I'd feel strange if I didn't have at least Ruby with me. We entered our room, where four futons had been laid out for us. Just like we'd done on the ferry, we went for our standard Beacon sleeping arrangements. Ruby had the left-most futon, I was next to her, Blake next to me, and Yang next to Blake.

Not much later, the lights were out. Not even thirty seconds later, I head shuffling sounds on my right and I soon felt Ruby's futon touching mine.

"Ruby?" I whispered. "We haven't done this since our first kiss," Ruby explained.

That was true. After that one night we'd spent cuddled up, we hadn't had much chance to do it again because during our gear-less travels, everyone wanted a place next to the fire to stay warm. I threw my comforter open and Ruby did the same. She wrapped herself around me and I felt her warmth through our clothes. It felt very calming to have her there, and with a smile on my face I fell asleep.

 **And with that, nearly 9000 words are done. This chapter is three times the length of what I would usually write for this fic, and with the author's notes included I've gone OVER 9000. Might be a record across all my fics, actually. In any case, I hope you still enjoyed it despite the length. Please let me know what you think, and I'll hopefully see you in chapter fifteen.**


	15. Shipping Woes

**Man, it's been a while. Nearly a year. I do hope I'll be able to get a bit more regularity going in my updates from now on, but I'm afraid to make any promises considering my track record, so I won't.**

 **MIKandIk3: Thank you very much for the review. I tend to notice spelling and grammar errors only after I've uploaded, and by that point I usually can't really be bothered to fix them. There's only one in the story that I put there intentionally, way back in chapter six. As for Adam…well, you'll see. I'm glad you like it so far, and I certainly welcome any feedback you might have for me.**

 **With that done, one last word of warning. I really screwed up with the distances and times, much like Ruby did in the show itself. I've…mentioned that in this chapter, but I'm not going to retcon it at this point. So, I'm sorry for the mistake there! Please Read and Review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Shipping Woes  
**

The inn where Dr. Oobleck was staying was close to the ferry docks. It had a massive billboard outside advertising more alcoholic drinks than I even knew existed, yet somehow the building itself seemed to be swallowed by the two larger buildings on either side of it, giving it a very dark appearance. If someone had told me that an inn on a bright and sunny island could look so shady I probably wouldn't have believed them.

"This looks more like the kind of joint Qrow would hang out in," Yang remarked.

"I must admit I had expected Dr. Oobleck to have slightly more…refined…tastes," Weiss agreed.

"Well, maybe he's trying to stay incompetent," I said with a shrug.

" _Incognito_ , but I suppose you might be right," Weiss said hesitantly.

"Well, only one way to find out," Yang said.

She threw open the door and stepped inside, with the rest of us right behind her. The inn smelled like old cigarettes and the walls had dirty brown staining all over them, even though they were supposed to be whitish. At least, that's what I thought their color should be. A series of round tables was scattered around the room, all occupied by gruff-looking Faunus, who all turned to look at us when we entered.

"He couldn't have been more stereotypical if he'd tried…" Yang said softly. Then, putting on a bright smile for the customers in the inn, she said, "Good morning, everyone! We're looking for our teacher and apparently he's staying here. Is he here?"

The Faunus at the bar scoffed. "I'd be surprised if he's up yet. The amount of booze he sunk last night would put anyone into a coma," he said.

"Booze? That doesn't sound like Dr. Oobleck," Weiss said doubtfully.

"That's because Dr. Oobleck isn't here," a very familiar voice behind us said.

"Uncle Qrow!" I shouted happily, and threw myself around his neck.

"Called it," Yang remarked to no one in particular.

I let go of Uncle Qrow's neck and asked, "What are you doing here? Where's Dr. Oobleck?"

He gave me a short smirk, but then his face turned serious as he looked at each of us. "Back at Beacon. Let's go to my room. We can talk there."

We followed Uncle Qrow up a narrow set of stairs and through a hall which somehow looked even grimier than the bar area downstairs, which was only lit by a bunch of incredibly dim bulbs, and a little bit of light that fell through the dirty window at the end of the hall. Uncle Qrow stopped walking in front of a door, which had '166' written on it in flaky letters. He rummaged through his pockets and retrieved the key, and a moment later the four of us were sitting on the bed, while Uncle Qrow leaned against the desk. The room felt even more cramped than Henry's house had done.

"So, what's up?" Yang asked.

"Cinder Fall and her friends have gone missing at Beacon. There's no trace of them anywhere and that's worrying given all the trouble they went through to get into Beacon in the first place, especially in light of the information that Bartholomew supplied us with," Uncle Qrow said.

"How could she have disappeared with the entire Atlesian army there?" Weiss asked sharply.

I almost chuckled at how insulted she sounded. Her Atlesian pride must have been wounded a bit. Uncle Qrow shrugged. "Ironwood is just about as pissed off as you are about their lack of success in finding her, but he hasn't given up yet. In any case, because Bartholomew is one of the most experienced Huntsmen on Beacon's staff, Ozpin thought it would be better for him to stay at Beacon."

"So does that mean you're coming with us now?" I asked hopefully. Having Uncle Qrow with us would be awesome!

"Sorry, kid," Uncle Qrow said with an apologetic look. "Oz needs me to keep spying on the White Fang, especially now." He paused for a moment and thoughtfully looked out the window. "Lately, there's been a lot of discussion among the White Fang about someone called 'the Guide'. We don't know who it is, but Oz says there used to be a powerful figure known as the Guide; a warlord who held immense power centuries ago. It's hard to say how many of the stories about him were true, but from what Oz says he was at the very least a great commander in battle."

"But…if that was centuries ago, this 'Guide' couldn't be the same one, right?" Weiss asked.

"Probably not, no," Uncle Qrow admitted. "But the White Fang aren't the only ones talking about it. A lot of the Human underworld is also buzzing with rumors about this Guide. We have absolutely no idea who it might be; for all we know it's Cinder Fall herself, but hopefully the four of you will be able to find out more."

"Wait, our mission is still on? Even without an experienced Huntsman to guide us?" Weiss asked.

Uncle Qrow sighed. "It's not exactly ideal, I'll give you that. But I trust Oz, and he says that you should continue the mission. I'll be keeping tabs on you as much as I can, but I don't know how much that'll be."

He fell silent. I wasn't sure how to feel about what he'd told us. Despite chuckling at Weiss's anger earlier, Cinder disappearing couldn't be good. Then, I remembered something. "Wait, what about Torchwick?" I asked. "He was working together with Cinder, wasn't he?"

Uncle Qrow nodded. "Yes, but we don't exactly know where he is, either. We're pretty sure that both he and Cinder are still in Vale, and that they're planning to make a move during the Vytal Festival's finals. Ironwood has upped security even though Oz told him not to." He grimaced. "Everything together, Vale's one big powder keg right now. The army is making people nervous, Oz and Ironwood are on rocky terms, the White Fang is…doing something; we're not even sure what now that all Dust stores are basically fortresses."

I looked at my friends, who seemed to feel as troubled by this as I did. What if something happened in Vale while we were out here chasing ghosts? Part of me wanted nothing more than to go back to Vale so we could stand beside our friends if stuff really did begin to happen there, but I knew that Professor Ozpin must have had a reason to send us on this mission. He would not have done something like this if he didn't believe we could be of help.

So, despite the news, I smiled and said, "We'll find out what the White Fang are up to, and then we'll stop them."

Uncle Qrow chuckled. "Always the optimist, huh? I hope that part of you never changes, kiddo. We could use some more positivity in this world of ours." He looked at all of us and became serious again. It seemed like he wanted to say more, but somehow couldn't find the words. "If it hadn't been for my false information, you wouldn't have been following Adam's little treasure hunt for all this time. So…I'm sorry for all the trouble you've had to go through."

He gritted his teeth, clearly expecting us to scold him. Then, Weiss _did_ begin to scold him…sort of. "Don't give me that! We've been nearly killed on several occasions, we lost all our stuff, we've been walking through a forest for _weeks_ , and all you have to say is that you're _sorry_ for it?! No, don't interrupt me," Weiss said, warningly pointing at Yang when it seemed like she wanted to break in. "I'm not finished yet. See, _I'm_ not sorry that we've done this at all."

Yang's mouth fell open. Weiss looked at us with a fierce look, then turned her gaze on Uncle Qrow. "We're Huntresses. This is what we do, just like Dr. Oobleck told us when we were with him at Mountain Glenn. It's not like a real lead would have been any more comfortable. Besides, we haven't exactly wasted our time. Cinder's cover fell through because of it, no matter her disappearance. A missing person or a wanted fugitive? I think that difference alone is going to hinder her plenty, even if her whereabouts are unknown. And if we hadn't gone down this path, do you think Blake would've reconciled with her parents? Do you think that Ruby and I…" She fell silent and blushed. I blushed too. I hadn't expected Weiss to mention anything about us, but I liked that she did. Weiss quickly recovered and went on, "Do you think that we'd be as close as we are now? Because I don't. Yes, the lead was false, but if Mr. Belladonna has managed to find us a real one, don't you think it was worth it? I'd call that serendipity, if anything."

Of course, Weiss had to finish her speech with a word I didn't know. It seemed to cheer up Uncle Qrow, though. He laughed and shook his head. "I really underestimated you the first time we met. I never thought I'd ever meet a Schnee this passionate about anything," he said with a grin at Weiss, which she half-returned. "Well, I guess you four should head back, then. For all of our sakes, I hope that you'll get an actual lead this time. The White Fang are planning something big, and whatever it is, it won't be good if they can pull it off." He hesitated for a moment. "Whatever you do, though, be careful. Without Bartholomew with you, you shouldn't take unnecessary risks. It may be better to be covert if at all possible." He looked at me. "That means 'no fancy scythe combat unless absolutely necessary'."

"I know what covert means," I said. I was a little insulted that he'd think I didn't, because I'd been a fan of Jim Bont ever since I was little. How could I _not_ know what covert means?

"I know you do, but you get carried away quite quickly," Uncle Qrow said with a smirk.

I sheepishly looked at the floor. Well, if he put it like that…

"I'll let you know if we discover something important," he said.

"How will you find us?" Yang asked. "We don't even know where we're going yet."

"Unless you leave the planet itself, I'll find you," Uncle Qrow said mysteriously.

"That wasn't creepy at all…" Weiss muttered.

"We'd better go," Blake said. "The sooner we get on the road, the better."

I knew why Blake was so anxious to get going again. She wanted to stop Adam as soon as possible. I didn't blame her. We said goodbye to Uncle Qrow and began to head back to Blake's parents' house.

* * *

When we arrived back at the house of Blake's parents, Mr. Belladonna was already waiting for us. He smiled broadly when he saw us, so I hoped he'd have some good news for us.

"I have good news," he said.

Awesome!

"I've spoken to a dear friend of mine. As it turns out, he has been monitoring the White Fang in his area for quite some time. He wouldn't tell me exactly what he has discovered, but he said it was big."

It sounded good, at least it sounded good to me. The others didn't seem convinced, though.

"Is there any chance he's working with Adam?" Blake asked with a dark look.

Mr. Belladonna frowned. "If I thought there was a chance of that, I never would have contacted him. No, Bluefield has always been against Adam's methods and…"

"Bluefield?!" I interrupted. "As in, Jim Bont's archnemesis Bluefield?"

"Ruby! You can't just interrupt someone like that!" Weiss scolded me.

I chuckled nervously and muttered, "Sorry…"

"It's quite alright," Mr. Belladonna said with a laugh. "Although I wouldn't advise mentioning Jim Bont around him. He's quite annoyed that they gave a fictional character the same name as him."

After Weiss forced me to promise I wouldn't mention Jim Bont or anything related to it while we were visiting Mr. Bluefield, Mr. Belladonna continued his explanation.

"You'll meet up with him in Atlas, in…"

"Atlas?!" Weiss shouted.

"And I'm not allowed to interrupt…" I muttered.

Mr. Belladonna gave her a blank stare. Weiss gave an embarrassed cough. "Please continue," she said with a weirdly high-pitched voice.

With a last glance of the 'are you serious' kind at Weiss, Mr. Belladonna once again continued his story. "He lives close to the city walls and has a network of contacts throughout the city, both within the White Fang and outside of it. He told me he's close to uncovering something big, and that it had to do with a 'guide' of sorts, but he didn't say anything else…though by the looks on your faces, you seem to know what he's talking about?"

We quickly told Mr. Belladonna about our meeting with Uncle Qrow. When we were done, he nodded thoughtfully.

"It's troubling. I've studied many historical conflicts when I was younger; I looked for their causes, direct consequences, long-term consequences…and key individuals in them. And yet, never has there been any been any mention of someone using the title 'the Guide'." He paused for a moment and seemed to think carefully about what he was going to say. "I don't want to sound mistrustful of your headmaster…" he said, using a tone that made it clear that he _very much_ doubted our headmaster, "…but it seems a bit convenient that he would be the only one to know of this Guide. I've never met Ozpin myself, but I have heard stories about him, and one trait that always returns is 'reticent'."

I shot a questioning look at Weiss, who rolled her eyes and said, "It means he keeps his real thoughts hidden."

Mr. Belladonna nodded. "Exactly. I've heard that James Ironwood is starting to have his doubts about that as well. I can't help but wonder what else he's holding back."

I remembered what Headmaster Ozpin told me when I said that Weiss had seen my appointment as team leader as a mistake. _I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child alive._ At the time I thought he was just exaggerating, but now I wasn't so certain anymore. I also recalled something Professor Goodwitch had said when we'd just gotten our assignment. _Why didn't you tell them?_ I didn't like to admit it, but Mr. Belladonna had a point here, didn't he? It was a bit suspicious that Headmaster Ozpin was the only one to know anything about the Guide. But if he was holding back information, what did that mean for our mission? Did he actually expect us to succeed at all?

No. I couldn't think like that. I had to have faith in Headmaster Ozpin, have faith that he knew what he was doing, and that our mission was important. Uncle Qrow trusted him after all, didn't he?

"I'm sure Headmaster Ozpin has a reason for not telling us everything. He has a plan, I'm sure of it," I said. I hoped my friends didn't notice the doubt in my voice.

* * *

A couple of hours later, we sat waiting around on a hill next to the docks, watching how workers were craning large containers onto a ship, the very ship we'd be using to get into Atlas. Mr. Belladonna had spoken to the ship's captain and managed to get us hired as additional security while it made its trip to Atlas. The trip would take about a month and have a short stop in Mistral about halfway through, which confused all of us a bit since as far as we knew we'd taken about twice that time to walk south from Mistral to the ferry, while it should have taken us about half a year. I mean, I could understand if our estimates of how long we took were off by a few days, but off by five months? In the end, we'd decided to not worry about it and focus on the path ahead.

On a trip this long, there were bound to be some Grimm attacks and I wasn't too sure our weapons would do all that much against them, judging by the incredibly massive guns this cargo ship sported. Even so, the captain had been glad for the extra security.

I glanced at Weiss, who had a distant look in her eyes. Ever since we'd found out we were going to Atlas, she'd been very quiet. I knew it was because she didn't really want to see her father, but I had no idea how to help her. I shuffled closer to her and accidentally on purpose nudged her with my shoulder. She blinked a couple of times as if she was just waking up, then looked at me with a questioning look.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she started looking at the sea again. "I'm not sure," she said eventually. "It's been a long time since I was in Atlas. My father and I didn't exactly part on the best terms. I know we're not going there to see him, and if I can help it at all we _won't_ see him, but still. The thought of even being near him is…difficult."

It was hard for me to imagine how Weiss felt. I loved my father, and even though I didn't remember my mother all that well I still loved her as well. I couldn't really imagine _not_ wanting to see them. I knew that Weiss still loved her father, despite everything, and that just made it sadder that she'd rather avoid him now.

"Well," I said hesitantly, "Whatever happens, we're all here for you."

Weiss half-smiled, gave me a quick kiss, and then jumped to her feet. "Come on, they've finished loading up." Without another word, she began walking down the hill.

* * *

Slowly, the cargo ship moved out of the Menagerie docks. Blake's parents smiled and waved as we moved off, and the four of us waved back, Blake with tears glistening in her eyes. It made me happy that Blake's relationship with her parents was back to normal. Even though Weiss was heavily against it, I still hoped that while we were in Atlas we'd get a chance to meet her family as well.

As soon as we'd cleared the docks completely, Yang said, "I hope we'll have to fight a Kraken. I heard those are really tough."

"For all of our sakes, miss, I hope not," a sailor who happened to be walking by said. "It's hard to really grasp just how big Krakens and Leviathans are unless you've seen them. They don't attack often, but when they do, it usually means your ship is done for."

"So what _does_ usually attack ships?" Yang asked.

"Believe it or not, Rosmar," the sailor said.

"Rosmar?" Yang said disbelievingly.

It wasn't hard to understand why Yang reacted like that. Rosmar were walrus-like Grimm. Like normal walruses, they looked incredibly dorky and clumsy. On land, they were so slow that you could escape from them by calmly walking away.

The sailor, however, nodded gravely. "Their tusks can tear through the hulls of smaller ships with ease and in the water they're very fast. Unlike walruses they don't have to stay in shallow waters or come up for air. They're very aggressive and usually attack in great numbers. Their tendency to stay underwater makes them very hard to shoot with our cannons. Usually when they attack we just power through and hope they don't do too much damage to the ship."

"Have they ever taken down a cargo ship?" Weiss asked.

"Many times. We've been lucky, so far, but cargo ships do fall prey to Rosmar occasionally. In some areas submarines are sent to escort all cargo ships, just to keep them safe. We don't have that luxury, although we do have harpoon guns and depth charges with us so we're not _completely_ defenseless."

We shot each other uneasy glances. None of us had really expected that Rosmar could ever be such a huge problem, and none of us had any experience with fighting at sea. Well, maybe we'd get lucky and the Rosmars wouldn't bother us.

* * *

The first attack happened just after dinner. We were still at our table, talking, when a sailor approached us and said, "Sonar has detected a large group of Rosmar ahead. The captain says you're to report on the foredeck and help fight them."

I nodded. "Right."

I looked at my friends, who all looked about as worried as I felt. Still, this was, officially, why we were on the ship. We'd have to earn our keep here. Moments later, we stood on the foredeck. Since it was a clear night, the water in front of the ship was calm. I couldn't see anything but water, but Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I can see them," she said. "The water in the distance is littered with them."

I took out Crescent Rose and unfolded her into sniper mode. I looked through the scope, and with the aid of the zoom and the night vision, I could see them. Their black bodies, the white, bony nubs along their backs, the huge tusks. At our current speed, we'd go right through them in just a few minutes.

"Weiss, how much ice Dust do you have?" I asked.

"I restocked on Menagerie, so quite a bit. Why?"

"Can you line the hull with ice? I'm hoping it will limit the damage their tusks can do," I said.

Weiss nodded uncertainly. "I think so."

"Good. Blake, what's Gambol Shroud's range?"

"Somewhere around 200 meters," she replied.

"Okay. I'm going to open fire to try and pick a few off before we get there. Blake, open fire when you think you can. Weiss, when Blake opens fire, ice up the hull. After that, create stepping stones for Yang with your glyphs, between the Rosmars. Ember Celica doesn't have the range to hit them from up here."

I knew that what I was proposing was risky, but it was the only idea I had. None of us were used to firing harpoons, so I didn't think we'd be able to do much with them, and none of us had fought at sea before either. I just hoped the ship's depth charges would take care of the ones below the surface, and that the ice armor would hold until we were clear. The others were giving me a huge amount of trust, going along with this. I hoped their trust would be well-placed.

But now wasn't the time to worry anymore. We had to fight either way, and fighting was what I did best. I took aim at one of the Rosmar in the front and fired. To my great relief, the shot went right through its head and it began disintegrating. I took aim at another one and fired, but barely missed. I took a deep breath and lined up my next shot. Around me, I could hear the sailors readying the harpoons. As we got closer, I scored more hits, but there were just so many of them that my kills seemed to amount to nothing at all.

Then, Blake opened fire. Almost immediately, I heard the familiar sound of Weiss's glyphs and saw white light flashing up around the bow of the ship as the ice armor took shape. Weiss was right on time, because the light had barely faded when we smashed into the army of Rosmar. I heard dull thumps, both from the Rosmar that the ship was crushing, as from the other Rosmar smashing their tusks into the ice barrier Weiss had created.

Weiss raised Myrtenaster and summoned glowing glyphs on the surface of the waves, between the mass of Rosmar. Yang, using the recoil from Ember Celica, leapt off of the bow of the ship and landed on one of the glyph islands. Almost immediately, several Rosmar broke the surface of the water and jumped up at her, but she was ready for them and began launching them into the air like ragdolls.

"Blake, keep up covering fire from up here, Weiss, maintain the glyph islands for as long as you can. I'm going down to help Yang," I said.

Weiss nodded, but she had a worried look on her face. "Be careful," she said.

I grinned. "Aren't I always?" I asked, before jumping off of the ship and landing next to Yang, unfolding Crescent Rose into her scythe form.

Just like Yang, I was immediately attacked by a large number of Rosmar. The sea was shockingly cold, and, remembering what happened the last time I'd gotten soaked, I increased the power of my Aura to keep the worst of the cold out.

For the next minutes, I had no time to think. I could only react, swing Crescent Rose, fire her gun, leap and jump, and hope that Weiss would be able to keep glyphs appearing at the places I'd land, but it felt great. The calm sea turned out to be a fantastic battlefield. With all this room to work with, I could fight the way I liked to fight: fast and flashy.

After cutting a Rosmar in half in midair and landing on a glyph which appeared just in time, I saw that Yang, too, seemed to be having a blast. This was the sort of fight I loved to have. As much damage as the Rosmar might be able to do to a ship, they weren't powerful when fighting agile opponents like Yang or me.

On and on we fought. There had to be more Rosmar here than there were Laceratilia in the swamps, but eventually their numbers began to shrink. Throughout the fight, the ship had kept moving forward and we'd been jumping alongside it using the recoil of our weapons and the power of Weiss's glyphs, and now it seemed we'd finally made it through the pack.

"Yang!" I shouted. She looked up after launching another Rosmar. "Back to the ship!"

She nodded and waved at Weiss, who immediately understood and changed her glyphs to allow us to jump back up to the bow.

I grinned at my teammates, who all looked tired but satisfied. "Showoff," Weiss said, but she smiled warmly.

With a flash of light, the ice armor Weiss had created disappeared. It was then I realized that the sailors, who had been manning the harpoons, were all staring at us.

I saw the ship's captain walking up past the containers. He'd stayed on the bridge, which was near the back of the ship, for the whole battle. He looked stern as he came closer. Heh, stern. You know, 'cause we were on a ship? Never mind.

"Huntresses," he said when he got closer. "You have my gratitude for your aid in fighting off the Grimm."

"It was no biggie," Yang said cockily.

"However," he went on, and Yang's grin got a bit smaller, "In the future I'd like you to clear any plans that will influence the ship with me. The ice armor was very useful, but standard procedure during an encounter with Grimm is to go at flank speed. Flank speed is never very good for the engines, and with the increased drag from the ice armor we could very well have irreparably damaged them, if our helmsman hadn't noticed what you were doing and decreased power output accordingly."

I looked at the deck, a bit embarrassed. I hadn't given any thought to what kind of effect the ice armor might have had on the ship. What if I _had_ ruined the ship's engines? In that case, we'd have been stuck in the middle of an army of Grimm. We'd never have been able to fight them all off. I looked up at the captain.

"I'm sorry, sir," I said. "The ice armor was my idea. I should have thought about the effects and I didn't. If you're going to punish anyone, it should be me."

I tried to sound brave, but I've always found pitched battles with murderous monsters of darkness to be a lot easier than dealing with people.

To my surprise, the captain laughed. "Punish you? There's no need for that, Miss Rose. Like I said, our helmsman noticed what you were doing and lowered power output. The engines are fine and thanks to the shield, we've sustained no damage at all. All I ask of you is that you clear such plans with me beforehand, so we'll be able to adjust our power throughput accordingly. Now, I suggest the four of you go get dried up and get some rest. There's no telling when we'll run into the next group of Rosmar, and I want everyone as ready and rested as they can be."

With a final nod, the captain turned around, and the ship's crew began to cheer for us. I'd never been slapped on the back as much as I was at that moment, while we tried to get ourselves below decks again. I think just about every crewmember had thanked us when we finally reached the small cabin the four of us shared. It was warm in the cabin, a welcome feeling after the icy cold spray of the waves. If my clothes hadn't been soaking wet I'd have dropped myself on my bunk immediately.

"That went well," Yang said. "For a moment I thought the captain was about to tear us a new one, though."

"Well, he _was_ right. We could have damaged the ship. I'm glad we didn't," Weiss said with a troubled look.

Yang shrugged. "Oh well, it turned out okay in the end, didn't it? In any case, I'm going to hit the showers."

That sounded like a very good idea to me. I quickly grabbed my shower stuff and ran after her to the ship's showers.

* * *

I stared up at the ceiling of the cabin. Our room was dark, but from the hallway, a faint red line shone in through the crack beneath the door. I listened to the sounds of the ship. The distant rumble of the engines. The muffled sounds of the waves on the hull. The occasional footsteps in the hallways and the decks above us.

"Ruby?" Weiss's voice from the bunk below mine shook me from my half-sleeping state. "Are you awake?"

"Sort of," I replied truthfully.

"I just wanted to say, you did a really great job today," Weiss said. "None of us knew how to fight at sea, and you just came up with a plan and made it look easy."

I blushed at the compliment. Girlfriend or not, Weiss was still more of a 'tough love' sort of person in general, so an outright compliment was rare.

"Fighting is what I'm good at," I said. "It's the reason they let me into Beacon early." I frowned. "But I could have gotten us in big trouble today because I was only thinking of winning the fight."

"Yes, and you immediately took responsibility for it even though all of us were to blame. You're really getting better at being a leader," Weiss said.

I blushed again. Weiss really was giving me a lot of compliments all of a sudden. I considered climbing down into Weiss's bunk so I could hold her, kiss her, and perhaps…I cut myself off before my thoughts could go there. There was no way I'd ever do something like that while in the same room as my sister, no matter how much I might want to. The time for…things like that…would come. Someday. But the thought of her touch was just so…nice. No. Nope. Not now. I wondered if Weiss ever had thoughts like these. If she did, she managed to keep them hidden really well. I closed my eyes. I immediately saw the kinds of images that made me grateful none of us could read minds. I opened and closed my hand a couple of times, then made a decision.

* * *

Over the next few days, there were several more attacks by Rosmar, both during the day and during the night. But with the help of the ice shield and the same plan we'd used the first time, none of the fights caused much damage and we got better and better at fighting them.

My biggest problem was actually me. More and more often, I found myself glancing at Weiss. The thoughts I had while doing that were definitely not family friendly, but there really wasn't much I could do to stop them. At night, maybe, but certainly not during the day. I began to notice that Weiss was probably in the same situation as I was. At least, one time I caught her looking at me with a bit of a wild look in her eyes, which didn't make things easier for me. I had to bite my own tongue that night to keep quiet.

All in all, I was really happy when, after two weeks of internal torture, we sailed into the Mistral docks early in the morning. We'd have one day ashore and set off again at the end of the day.

"It's so good to have actual land beneath me again," Yang said as we walked down the gangplank. "Even though we're leaving again tonight," she added. She looked at the rest of us. "So, what's the plan for today?"

I shrugged. I hadn't really given it much thought, considering I had…other things on my mind.

"Maybe we could visit Mr. DeZwart," Blake suggested. "After all, we did leave rather quickly last time."

That sounded like a good idea to all of us, so we headed into the city.

* * *

Henry was happy to see us again. He was kind enough not to mention the way I ditched him last time I'd been there, and instead asked us about the things we'd discovered in the time we'd been gone. When we finished telling him about Adam, he frowned.

"He said the operations here were complete? That's very odd," Henry said.

"How so?" Weiss asked.

"Well, just a few days ago I overheard two Faunus, whom I suppose were part of the White Fang, discussing the fact that the replacement mechs were taking too long after 'those Huntsmen' destroyed them."

If they were waiting for replacement mechs, that would mean that the ones we destroyed at the rally were real. But Adam had said they were just decoys, hadn't he? Unless…

"So…Adam was lying?" I asked.

"I'm not certain, of course," Henry said. "But it would certainly seem like it."

"But if that's the case, what else did he lie about?" Yang wondered. "Blake?"

Blake, who looked both troubled and angry, shook her head. "I don't know," she said through gritted teeth. "Adam's always been good at manipulation but I thought I knew him well enough to tell the difference. Now? I don't know. I still don't think our escape and our clues pointing to Vacuo were coincidences, but everything else…he might have been bluffing."

I wasn't sure how to feel about this. On one hand, it was good thing that the White Fang's plans for Mistral had been delayed after all, but on the other...it was just more uncertainty. It seemed so obvious that Adam would lie. After all, what would he gain from telling us the truth?

"It doesn't matter," Weiss said forcefully. "Whether Adam told us the truth or not, we're following our own path now. Whatever he wanted us to do, we're not doing it. We've got a new lead, one which _definitely_ isn't working for Adam. Whatever his plan is, we're going to stop it."

I understood why Weiss seemed so angry. We were heading to Atlas because we'd thought that Vacuo would be a massive trap. If it turned out it wasn't, then Weiss would risk running into someone who knew her for nothing. But despite that, she knew that the plan we had now was the best we had, and that we had to see it through.

The rest of the day, we talked about more casual things. Movies, music, even games. It turned out that Henry had an old console, and we had a lot of fun playing games that were about twice our age.

Late in the afternoon, we said goodbye to Henry, and we promised him to visit again once our mission was over. In the orange light of the slowly setting sun, we headed back to the docks.

* * *

The two weeks that followed had a lot of downtime. Yes, there was an occasional attack, but for most of the time there wasn't much to be done. That didn't really help my…problem, which had returned in full force after our discussions about Adam began sounding like broken records.

My idea that Weiss was in the same situation as I was, though, was pretty much proven to be true. Sometimes she actually looked quite deranged and I feared (and a part of me hoped) that she might jump me at some point. To my great relief, however, Yang and Blake either didn't notice or were tactful enough not to say anything about it.

At long last, however, we slowly rolled into the docks of Atlas. As Weiss had become more stressed out the closer we got to Atlas, I'd become more easily capable of setting aside my 'thoughts' and just being there to support her.

"It's going to be fine, Weiss," I said, while the ship's crew was busy preparing for the final docking. "We'll visit Mr. Bluefield, and then we'll probably leave Atlas again."

I wasn't sure if that was true. For all we knew, we'd be staying in Atlas for weeks on end. It didn't seem very smart to tell that to Weiss, though. Weiss just nodded grimly. It pained me to see that she hated being here so much. I wished I could do more than just stand next to her and whisper encouragements, but I had no idea how.

A shudder went through the ships when the engines cut out. I heard Weiss's breathing speed up, so I squeezed her hand and whispered, "Deep breaths, Weiss. Deep breaths."

She nodded and followed my advice. She gave me a shaky smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, let's get going."

We said goodbye to the crew of the ship. The captain especially was sad to see us go. With us gone, they'd actually have trouble with the Rosmar again.

We came ashore, and for the first time I looked around at Atlas. By the looks of the buildings, everything was incredibly high tech here. In the sky, one of General Ironwood's airships moved lazily around, scanning for threats. The ends of the piers were all tipped with massive gun installations, and the roofs of the buildings had machine guns on them. Atlesian knights patrolled the walkways and piers. Beyond the docks, we could see the massive wall around the city proper. There were gun installations at regular intervals along the wall, as far as I could see. It was cold, and I was glad we'd bothered to buy winter gear in Menagerie before we left. A cold gust sent shivers up my spine and I increased my Aura a bit more to warm up.

"So, Weiss, where to?" Yang asked.

"According to Mr. Belladonna, Mr. Bluefield lives near the northern wall," Weiss said. "We'll need to go into town, then take the monorail to..."

"Edelweiss Agnes Schnee!"

 **And there we are. Yeah, the hormones have been dialed up a bit. Also, Weiss's full name (at least in this story) is mentioned. Both Edelweiss and the St. Agnes flower are white flowers, so I figured it would fit. But who's the person using it? You'll find that out next time!**


	16. Frozen Hope Rekindled

**This Author's Note will be quite long, which is fitting because the chapter, too, is quite long. The longest chapter I've ever written, even, clocking in at just over ten thousand words. I doubt any other chapter in this story will reach that length again. In any case, this chapter is very important, and I think it will also be very divisive, probably as much as the next chapter and chapter 26. Aside from changing a bit about Atlas itself, I've made absolutely massive changes to one character in particular: Jacques Schnee. See, the events in this chapter involving him were among the first I came up with when I started work on this story three years ago, when Jacques hadn't been revealed yet (Volume 3 wasn't even out). Because of that,** _ **everything**_ **you know about Jacques, more or less, is wrong. He's Weiss's father and his name is Jacques. Those are all the resemblances both incarnations of him have. In this story,** _ **he**_ **is Nicholas's son, and his appearance and personality are vastly different from the show, because I never liked his canon portrayal at all. I only kept the name because I hate coming up with them. Also, Whitley doesn't exist in this story. Some people will hate that. I get that. I don't like such enormous canon defilement either, generally. But then, I've already changed Mistral a lot, now Atlas as well, so it makes sense that some characters would be different too. In spite of these changes, I still hope you enjoy the chapter, which really is a very important one. Please let me know your thoughts on it, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Frozen Hope Rekindled**

"Edelweiss Agnes Schnee!"

Oh no. I knew that voice, and right at that moment, it was the absolute _last_ voice I wanted to hear. Worse than being my father's voice, this voice belonged to none other than Mrs. Mohn Blumenfeld, a woman who had been in the employ of my family since before I was even born, and who had an almost pathological tendency to always call me by my full name, something not even my parents did.

I forced a friendly smile and turned around. She'd barely changed in the years I hadn't seen her. She was still short, and fat. She wore the same plain, white dress she'd worn for as long as I'd known her. Her hair was dyed black and tied into a bun, and her eyes were a dark blue, and somehow simultaneously kind and critical of whatever she happened to be looking at.

"Mrs. Blumenfeld, how nice to see…"

"It's been far too long since I heard from you, Edelweiss Agnes," she interrupted me sternly.

She looked me up and down and I heard Ruby snicker, "Edelweiss?"

I shot her an annoyed look and hissed, "If any of you ever call me that, I will use you to practice my sword techniques."

"I'm sure Ruby would like that," Yang said innocently.

I felt the blood rushing to my face at that remark. "That doesn't even make sense, you halfwit!"

Sadly, I didn't get the chance to throttle Yang, since Mrs. Blumenfeld, who had ignored our little exchange entirely, spoke up again. "Well, at least you seem to be well fed. A bit too well, perhaps."

She was still inspecting me as she said this, and I bit back an indignant response. Mrs. Blumenfeld was a good person and always had been, but she was somehow able to be more tactless than Yang.

"In any event, Edelweiss Agnes…" Again with the full name. I'd never known why she felt the need to that, especially the inclusion of my middle name. "…your father will be most pleased that you have returned to Atlas."

My blood ran cold when she mentioned my father. Even now, talking to someone so closely involved with my family, I still had no intention of visiting my old home. The very thought of being in that marble prison made uncomfortable to my core.

"I…I'm not here to visit," I said shakily. I straightened my back. "We're here on official business from Beacon. I'm afraid we simply haven't time to…"

"But you must, Edelweiss Agnes!" Mrs. Blumenfeld interrupted. "Your father was very angry with you when you left, but I'm certain he'll want to see you."

It was only now that she seemed to really notice Ruby and the others. "I'm sure he'll also be very interested in meeting your little friends."

Said 'little friends' shared some confused glances at being addressed like that, but Ruby quickly recovered and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Ruby Rose! I'm Weiss's partner at Beacon and I'm also…"

"The team captain!" I interrupted, with a warning glance at Ruby.

If my family was going to know I had a girlfriend, I'd rather tell them myself. Ruby seemed confused and, to my shame, a bit hurt by my interruption, but she nodded and said, "Yeah, the team captain."

Her voice was flat, which made my insides squirm worse than they already did. Didn't she realize why I interrupted her? Yang shot me a look that was so cold she might as well have used ice Dust, but gave a friendly smile to Mrs. Blumenfeld when she introduced herself. Blake kept her expression carefully neutral, both towards me and Mrs. Blumenfeld.

"Well, Edelweiss Agnes, I cannot accept you not visiting home while you are here. I shall notify your father immediately, and then we will go home together," she said.

"No, I…"

"That sounds lovely, Mrs. Blumenfeld!" Ruby interjected.

Was she just being spiteful now? Surely she knew how much I dreaded going home. I tried to catch her eyes, but she pointedly ignored me. Mrs. Blumenfeld gave Ruby a curious look, and then she pulled out her scroll and walked a short distance away while as she looked for my father's number.

Meanwhile, Yang rounded on me. "You have about three seconds to tell me why you want to keep your relationship with Ruby a secret, _Edelweiss,_ " she said menacingly.

Fortunately, anger came to my defense. "Have you noticed what kind of person Mrs. Blumenfeld is?! If it's all the same to you, I'd rather tell that to my father myself. Look, just because no one we've met thus far sees a problem in my relationship with Ruby doesn't mean that he won't. You don't know what he's like!" I shouted hysterically. "Once, he may have been kind and caring, but that side of him is long gone. I'm an asset to him, a pawn to be used as he sees fit, and I don't know if the word 'heir' means something to you, but it's going to be a bit _difficult_ if I'm with a girl, don't you think?!"

I shifted my gaze from Yang, who looked a bit conflicted, to Ruby, who looked downright horrified. "Weiss, I'm sorry I said yes to Mrs. Blumenfeld but I was angry because I thought you didn't want your family to know about us and…"

I held up a hand. "It's okay," I said. The sight of her like that calmed me down a bit. "It wasn't my brightest move, I admit…but I really, really would have liked to avoid this situation." I sighed and stepped closer to Ruby, who still looked guilty. I brought my face close to hers. "Don't worry about me not wanting to be your girlfriend, or me not wanting people to know, or anything of the sort. You mean the world to me, but I need to be able to tell people that in my own time, _especially_ my family."

I quickly kissed her, silently lamenting that we didn't get many chances to do even that, and then stepped back just in time to see Mrs. Blumenfeld approaching us again. Had she seen the kiss? I was beginning to get nervous again. To my unending relief, however, she didn't say anything about it. Since I was sure she'd have immediately given her opinion if she'd noticed, I relaxed the tiniest bit.

I furiously hoped she'd say that my father was unavailable and that we'd be unable to visit, but of course I wasn't that lucky. "Good news, Edelweiss Agnes," Mrs. Blumenfeld began, "When your father heard you were in Atlas he immediately cleared out his schedule for the rest of the day. He told me to take you and your friends home at once, so if you'll follow me…"

With leaden feet, I began to walk after her. My friends followed me. I saw Ruby giving me an apologetic look, so I smiled at her to reassure her, even though I didn't feel like smiling at all.

* * *

The monorail silently moved over the city. I looked outside without really paying attention. It wasn't like I didn't know this route, anyway. I knew that the large building we were now moving past, with a peak that rose above all the buildings around it, contained a vast number of technological research labs, both civilian and military. Most projects in it were funded mainly by the Schnee Dust Company. The smaller building on the other side of the monorail, which was squat and unassuming, was a storage room for just about every mechanical part under the sun, shipping all over Remnant. The next building we passed had an odd, asymmetrical shape. It was an art museum, erected to memorialize the Great War. Neither its owner nor its generous financial benefactor, the SDC, mentioned that it was Mantle who decided that individuality was to be stamped out. Next was a small park, placed there solely to put some green into an otherwise bleak city. The plants were protected from the cold by an intricate system of heat sources and fire Dust in the earth.

There was a reason that the monorail went past all these significant buildings. Throughout the city, the railed public transport had been set up to showcase all the marvels of engineering Atlas had to offer. The more mundane buildings like houses and general stores, while reachable by buses, weren't part of the scenic trip that most tourists went for. Tactically, the docks were only reachable by monorail, as was the airport, thus forcing newcomers to the city to see at least some signs of Atlas's prowess.

As a child, I'd thought it was great. That Atlas was the most modern, most beautiful, safest city in Remnant. Now, all I really saw was showboating and arrogance, a trait which I'd come to realize was also visible in many of Atlas's residents, including myself. But I'd learned that even this gleaming city had its seedy underbelly, no matter how much everyone, my father most of all, tried to hide it.

I glanced over at my friends, who were all awestruck by the many buildings they were seeing, while Mrs. Blumenfeld was explaining some of the buildings to them. I knew I should've been the one to do that, but my mind was preoccupied by the fact that I was about to see my father for the first time in what felt like years.

As we got ever closer to the compound, I felt my mouth go dry and my heart speed up. Suddenly, Ruby was next to me. "It'll be okay, Weiss. Trust me," she said softly.

I nodded, but didn't reply. Through the front window of the monorail, I could see it. The vast estate of my family, with at its heart the massive, white mansion. Despite the rows upon rows of green hedges, bright white gravel paths and exquisitely crafted fountains arranged in orderly lines along the main driveway, it felt intimidating to look at, as if its pleasant look was nothing but a veneer, ready to crumble away and show the amorphous dark blob it was underneath.

" _That_ is your home?!" Yang said incredulously. "All of Patch would fit inside of that!"

"It feels wrong," Blake said, but she didn't elaborate because Mrs. Blumenfeld was with us. Not that she had to; I knew exactly why this visit wasn't exactly something she wanted to do either. Yet another thing I had in common with her.

The monorail soundlessly slid into the station. The fact alone that our _house_ had its own, dedicated monorail station made me a bit embarrassed, more so because it really was nothing more than a statement of wealth. My father never used it, and of our personnel only Mrs. Blumenfeld did because she enjoyed the sights of the city. Needless to say, the five of us were the only ones getting off the monorail at the station.

The platform was impeccably clean. The trashcans were empty. The vending machines were full. It was all designed to be inviting, but the obvious lack of use of anything there made it uncanny instead. We descended a gleaming escalator and exited the station, to immediately be greeted by the massive and intricate wrought-iron gate that sealed off the compound from the rest of the world. Behind it stretched the driveway flanked by the fountains. The gate itself was flanked by a hedge which surrounded the compound. The black spikes rising from the hedge were the only indication that there was a fence hidden within it.

Two men clad in black suits and light blue ties stood in front of the gate. They wore sunglasses and earpieces to complete the standard security look. With the rising threat of the White Fang, my father employed a private security force to guard the estate. I figured that General Ironwood probably refused to lend him any soldiers for the job. As the high commander of the Atlesian military _and_ the Headmaster of its academy, General Ironwood was likely the one person in Atlas who was entirely unintimidated by my father's wealth.

These guards were probably only out here to escort us, however, since I knew that along the circumference of the compound there were machine gun turrets hidden in the hedge, which could safely be operated from within the security building. They stood at attention as we walked closer to them.

"Good day, Miss Schnee. Your father has dispatched us to escort you and your associates inside. If you would be so kind to hand over your weapons, please," one of the men said.

I knew Yang wanted to argue, so I quickly held up my hand to silence her. "Surely father does not believe that my friends or I would seek to cause harm to him or the estate? As Huntresses, we must be ready to fight at a moment's notice. I must therefore respectfully decline your request to hand over our weapons," I said.

The security looked conflicted. He didn't want to disobey my father, but if he implied that he thought my father's heir was going to cause trouble, he might lose his job as well. "Miss Schnee, your father expressly requested us to…"

"Then I shall explain the situation to him myself," I said with a confidence I didn't feel, "Now, I believe you were told to escort us to him?"

The security guard shot a pleading look at Mrs. Blumenfeld, but I knew that for all her lack of tact she wasn't dumb. She wasn't going to interfere in a battle of wills between me and my father if she could help it.

Eventually, the guard seemed to resign himself to his fate and stood up straight again. "Very well then. If you would all follow me, please."

He made a gesture at his colleague, who took a small remote from the pocket of his jacket and pressed a button. The gate began to swing open and I looked back at my friends. Yang still looked bewildered by the sheer size of compound. Ruby looked excited; her eyes gleamed in wonder as she tried to take everything in. She looked absolutely adorable. Blake, on the other hand, looked exactly as apprehensive as I felt. She was about to enter the home of someone she'd loathed for a large part of her life, and while I didn't _loathe_ my father, I certainly didn't particularly want to see him either. She saw me looking at her and I gave her an apologetic look, to which she slowly shook her head, replying to my look with the faintest of smiles.

I didn't know why, but knowing that Blake no longer blamed me for what my father did, and in turn, knowing for myself that the prejudice I'd built up around Faunus had fallen away ever since we'd found out about Blake's past, made me feel better about coming back to this place, however marginally. It made me realize that I wasn't the same person I'd been when I left anymore. Lastly, Mrs. Blumenfeld wore her normal, inscrutable expression.

We began walking after the guards and as we walked down the driveway, memories of my youth came back to me. I recalled how I'd once, in a fit of anger, had frozen all the fountains when I'd gotten my hands on some ice Dust. Winter had scolded me for it, but my father had actually laughed about it. It was probably one of the last things I'd seen him laugh about, before everything went wrong. From down on the ground, the manor seemed even more impressive than it had done from the monorail. The white walls rose up like a sheer cliff, with gleaming windows spaced at exact intervals alongside the walls. Next to the huge manor, I now saw the security building, which in itself would dwarf a normal house but which looked insignificant next to the manor.

"Man, couldn't we have taken a car to your front door?" Yang asked.

"My father likes it when visitors who aren't business partners walk down the driveway. It's one of the ways he tries to intimidate people," I said.

"Why would he do that?" Ruby asked. "I mean, those people aren't his enemies, are they?"

I shook my head. "No, but my father always assumes the worst. He'll do anything he feels could give him a psychological edge even before he's met them. Of course, when someone is here on business they can just drive up to the front door in their limousines. It wouldn't do to make someone he needs walk that whole distance."

"Who would even come here other than business partners?" Yang asked.

I gave her a guilty look. "Mostly people who come here to petition against his business practices, both Faunus and Humans. He has little sympathy for them and so he will do anything to show them their insignificance. From what I've gathered, it's pretty effective."

Blake looked positively murderous at that, but she said nothing. I hoped that she'd be able to hold herself back when we met my father.

"So…" Ruby said hesitantly, "Is your mother here as well?"

I didn't respond immediately. Whenever I thought about my family, it was usually about Winter or my father. My mother…

"She doesn't live here anymore. My parents divorced quite a while ago. She still lives in Atlas, though," I said.

While that was true, I also hadn't spoken to her in ages. That wasn't because I feared it, though. It was simply because I, to my shame, had no idea where she actually lived. I knew it was in Atlas, but nobody I'd talked to seemed willing to tell me, probably on my father's orders. Just another reason why I didn't want to talk to him. What kind of father keeps their children away from their mother?

I couldn't really ruminate any further, though, as we finally arrived at the heavy mahogany doors, the only exterior part of the mansion which wasn't bright white. The two security guards opened the door and we entered the entrance hall.

Immediately, I felt the chill of the stones around me. The entrance hall felt as big as a cathedral. Along the walls were mahogany doors, each placed exactly opposite another to preserve the symmetry of the hall. The floor was gleaming marble, as were the two staircases leading to the balcony from where my father could look down upon his guests.

To my surprise, he wasn't standing there yet. It was only after the security guards had left that a door on the balcony opened and my father entered. He stood exactly in the middle of the balcony. The light from the windows behind him framed him in shadow, making it slightly more difficult to see his face. As with the driveway, this was another way to unnerve guests.

I knew him well enough to easily see his face, though. He was tall, imposing. On physique alone he might match General Ironwood. His blue eyes were hard and cold, his clean shaven, lined face looked old before its time. His white hair was impeccably groomed. He wore a white suit and white tie, as he usually did.

"So," his deep voice echoed impressively off the cold marble and it was all I could do not to flinch, "The prodigal daughter returns."

"I am many things, but wasteful is not one of them," I said in a tone I hoped could pass for defiant.

"Your cheek certainly hasn't diminished while you were away."

His voice was devoid of any inflection, but from the words alone I knew he wasn't pleased. I wasn't even certain why I reacted with that particular answer. Perhaps all the time I'd spent correcting Ruby on the meanings of words had ingrained it into me so deeply I couldn't stop anymore. He slowly began to descend the stairs on our left. I thought that if he'd somehow figure out a way to split himself into two people for the purpose of symmetry, he would. He slowly strode over to us and glanced at my friends, who all remained silent.

My father looked at Mrs. Blumenfeld. "Thank you for bringing my daughter to me, Mohn. You may go," he said.

Mrs. Blumenfeld gave a respectful bow and left through one of the doors.

"My name is Jacques Schnee, president of the Schnee Dust Company," my father said. "You, I take it, are Weiss's teammates at Beacon. Come with me."

Without another word, he turned around and began to walk to the door on the far left of the entrance hall, the one I knew led to the lounge area. Nervously, we followed him. The hallway he led us through had the same marble floor and white walls as the entrance hall. The walls were decorated with portraits of long-dead family members. We soon entered into a large, brightly lit room. The left wall had a massive, mahogany bookcase filled to the brim with books about Dust, business, and Dust business. Directly in front of us was a mahogany table on which lay a thick book, surrounded by ditto chairs. The inside wall of the room had two doors, one of which was the one through which we'd just entered, and the other led to a narrow staircase, ending up directly opposite my father's office, one floor higher. Next to the door was a fireplace, around which a white leather couch and two large seats covered in the same kind of white leather were placed.

My father took a seat in one of the chairs, and gestured at us to sit with him. I sat down on the chair opposite my father, as far away from him as I could get, while my friends sat down on the couch, Ruby making sure she had the spot closest to me, Blake sat next to her, and Yang sat closest to my father. For a moment nobody spoke.

"Now then. Why don't you introduce yourselves?" my father began the conversation. Though he phrased it like a question, the tone made clear that it was unmistakably an order.

Yang was the first to respond. "My name is Yang Xiao Long. Like you said earlier, I'm one of Weiss's teammates."

"What was your previous education before attending Beacon?" my father asked. It was almost like he was interrogating a prospective suitor for me. Which, I supposed, was going to be a bit ironic when he got to Ruby.

"I'm from Patch. I studied at Signal before I went to Beacon," Yang replied.

My father nodded slowly and looked at Blake, who fiercely looked into his eyes when she spoke. "My name is Blake Belladonna." If my father recognized the name at all, he didn't show it. "I'm Yang's partner at Beacon, and before I went there I lived outside of the kingdoms." The implication was obvious, and I really wasn't certain if it was a smart move for Blake to openly state that.

My father, however, remained stone-faced. Without saying anything to Blake, he turned to Ruby. I saw Blake's eyes narrow a bit.

"I'm Ruby Rose, sir. I'm the team captain of Team RWBY. I'm Yang's sister, and Weiss's partner. At Beacon, I mean. Yes."

She shot me a sideways glance. I could almost feel how nervous she was.

"Team captain," my father said. I felt a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. "And Weiss's partner, to boot. How would you say her performance in the team is?"

Ruby sat up straight. "She's excellent…I mean, her performance is excellent. In the team. Not as...I mean…um…"

She was growing redder with every word, and, I knew, digging herself deeper. Eventually, she ended her stammering with a soft, "Sir."

My father kept his eyes on her for a long time. "I'll take that to mean Weiss is doing well, then," he said. Ruby nodded fervently.

At long last, my father now turned to me. "You are not your team's leader. Why is that?"

"Because Ruby is a natural at it," I said. Ruby's eyes widened. Yang smiled thinly. "Her gift for battle is obvious. Her optimism is inspiring. She has grown tremendously since being given the role." I shot her a glance and smiled at her. "I'd follow her anywhere and gladly trust her with my life."

Silence fell over us once again. I knew my father wouldn't like to her that his daughter would defer to someone who seemed so inept. I wondered how he would respond to this. Without warning, my father stood up. He looked at me.

"Weiss, come with me. I wish to speak with you in private." He shot a disdainful look at my friends. "I shall have Mohn bring you something to drink. We won't be long."

With that, he strode towards the door closest to the fireplace and beckoned me to follow him. I looked at my friends, who seemed ready to jump to my defense, and slowly shook my head. I'd known from the start he would do this. I knew he'd want to separate me from my friends so he could drop his mask and apply more pressure to me.

I followed my father, up the narrow staircase which, in contrast to the ornate marble ones in the entrance hall, was made out of solid steel. We emerged in an upstairs hallway. A blue carpet lay down its length, covering most of the marble floor underneath. We entered into the room opposite the stairwell, and for the first time since I'd left home I was back in my father's office. Unlike most other rooms in the mansion, there were no windows here. A blue carpet rolled directly towards the massive desk in the back, behind which hung a large portrait of my father. Bookcases lined both walls. My father sat down in the enormous leather chair behind the desk, and gestured for me to take a seat in one of the smaller, less comfortable ones in front of it. I sat down and looked at him.

Now, for the first time since arriving here, his face began to show emotion. That emotion, of course, was anger.

"Belladonna," he said through gritted teeth. "You are in a team with the daughter of that animal?!"

I thought of Blake's parents and how kind they'd been to us, and my anger flared up to match my father's. "How dare you call _him_ an animal?! After everything you've done to the Faunus, after every shady deal you've ever made, you still have the audacity to…"

"Silence! Have you forgotten, perhaps, what _they_ have done to _us_?! Have you forgotten how many executives, colleagues, and family members we have lost to those savages?! I will not have my daughter fraternizing with scum like them!"

He had stood up when he started shouting, both hands on his desk. He towered over me and while I felt adrenaline rushing through me, I didn't back down.

"The Belladonnas have nothing to do with that! Ghira stepped down exactly _because_ he did not condone what the organization he had created had resorted to. When we arrived there with nothing but the clothes on our backs, they took us in. They didn't care from what family I came. They saw that Blake and her friends needed help and they provided it without hesitation, and yet you presume to tell me they are the enemy?!" I angrily blinked away the tears that were forming in my eyes. "What happened to you?! You used to be kind, and caring. You used to care about more than money and influence. You used to be my father…"

I turned my head away. My eyes still stung, but I forcefully bit back the storm of emotions I felt. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing my tears. Not this time.

Then, something I hadn't expected happened. My father sat back down with a sigh, and with that sigh, all of the anger seemed to fade away from him. He looked beaten now, ancient. His eyes were blank, expressionless, but not in the same intimidating way he'd been earlier.

"Has it really come to this, Jacques?" he asked. He spoke as if he no longer realized I was there. "Has it now gotten to the point where you've alienated the last person who might have cared?"

I blinked a couple of times. I'd never seen my father like this. "Father?" I said, uncertain.

He looked at me. In his eyes was nothing but sadness. Where had this broken man come from? It seemed so surreal that the man who had been shouting angrily at me not minutes before, was now looking burnt out and hopeless.

"Am I, still?" he asked.

Was this about my outburst? Did he infer from that that I no longer saw him as my father?

"Of course," I said. I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say, but I had no idea what else I could do.

He shook his head. "I was under the impression I'd just disabused you of that notion," he said wearily.

"Father, what's going on?" I asked.

My father sat up straighter. "Look at me," he said scathingly. "Look at what I am, Weiss, and you tell me what's going on. You were pretty astute in your observations just now, and I'd wager you a have a few more to make."

"I…" What was he getting at, here?

He sighed once more. "When I look at you, I can still see the way you were when you were younger. Parents aren't supposed to have favorites. I did, and you were. Where Winter took to the decorum of our station immediately, you did not. You remained, through everything, true to who you were."

I recalled the conversation I had with Qrow back on Patch, before we left on our mission. He'd said essentially the same thing.

"Everything went wrong when the White Fang…" His look hardened when he said the name, "…began to cause trouble. I'm no warrior. I'm a businessman. All I'm good at is doing business, and in business strong and weak are more subtle than they are on a battlefield. If I wanted to be strong in my field of expertise, I had to make sure I used every advantage. I created a mask, not unlike the ones the White Fang used. My mask was indifference. Murder, injustice, shady constructions…nothing penetrated my mask."

He smiled ruefully. "I should have realized, even then, that creating such a mask would have consequences. I didn't. I distanced myself wholly from what I did while I wore the mask, and so it struck me right in my core when Nicholas was murdered."

He gritted his teeth and my blood ran cold. Nicholas was my uncle's name, as well as my grandfather's.

"I'd never, even for a second, realized that, mask or no, I was still Jacques Schnee. I was well-known, and so were my relatives. My solution was cunning, or so I told myself. I would simply distance myself from those close to me, and that would keep them safe." He shook his head in derision. "How foolish, how childish, it was of me to think even for a second that it would work. And then Noel was killed. His head was left at our doorstep."

Vaguely, I recalled that morning. Horrible screams from downstairs, Mrs. Blumenfeld who had come upstairs, ashen-faced, telling us that we'd leave through the back door that day, that the front door needed repainting.

My father continued his story. "I didn't know what to do. Things kept getting worse. And every day when I came home from work and took off the mask, I exploded at everyone around me, because I was afraid one of you would be next. In time, I drove your mother away. I drove Winter into Ironwood's army, which was the absolute last place I wanted her to go. And then you suddenly wanted to become a Huntress. I didn't care about the Grimm. For me, our problems lay solely with the Faunus. The Grimm had never been a concern for me, personally, outside of military Dust sales being a golden market. The thought that my own daughter would fight them was, in my eyes, ludicrous. You were to be my heir, and fighting Grimm hardly befits the president of a large company."

"Grandpa Nicholas did, though," I said.

My father snorted. "My father was a hero. He was inspiring and strong. I wasn't. Nicholas was, but he felt his duty lay in the defense of the people, much like you do now. That was another reason I didn't want you to go. I'd seen what the White Fang had done to Nicholas. I felt that keeping you here would keep you safe, and at the same time further our family's aims. But you left, and with you gone my bitterness was all I had left. And now, with you here…I could have made amends. I could have admitted that, maybe, I was wrong. But instead, I retained my mask. I tried to unnerve your friends, and when I saw the weakness your team leader exhibited, I capitalized just like I would have done had it been a business deal instead."

"Ruby isn't weak," I said, feeling a bit of my anger returning now.

My father held up his hands. "I don't know how she fights. I told you, I'm a businessman and nothing more. Hearing you defend someone who I considered weak was another blow to me, I will admit. From my frame of reference, your time at Beacon had made you friendly to our enemies, and subservient to someone unworthy."

He saw that I wanted to interrupt him again, and he cut me off. "I know. She isn't unworthy or weak. She couldn't be, if you've fallen for her."

I felt like he'd nailed me to my chair with a spike. How could he possibly know…?!

He smirked. "Mohn told me. She guessed when you cut off whatever it was she was going to say when she introduced herself, and she saw you kiss her shortly after."

So, Mrs. Blumenfeld _had_ seen me. "So…what now?" I asked fearfully, fully expecting his rage to return.

"Now? I suppose that now, you will continue whatever mission it is you and your teammates are on," he said.

I looked at him with wide eyes and he cocked his head. "Wait. Did you expect _that_ to be an issue with me?"

And then he laughed. The same laugh he used to laugh when everything was still normal. When our family hadn't fallen apart yet. When he'd still been the kind man I looked up to.

"Weiss, I would _never_ judge you for being in love with a girl. I only judge the person, and I've already proven to be terrible at that, these days."

"But…I'm your heir, aren't I? Or…was…or…"

He nodded. "And? There are ways for two women to have a child, if it comes to that. But I do hope that is a long way off," he said.

My head was reeling. All this time, I had thought that my relationship with Ruby would have been a big problem for him because of his drive to pass on the Schnee name. But for my father to casually say that it didn't bother him…It felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. The dread I'd felt ever since I became Ruby's girlfriend, the fear that I'd one day have to tell my father, was entirely gone.

"Weiss." My father's voice brought me back to the present. "I have made a lot of mistakes. Many of those, I can never rectify. But right now, I'm asking you, no, begging you…to give me one more chance as your father. To not deny me the final tie I have to my family. To allow me to be the man I should have been. To, for once, be brave, like Nicholas, and Winter, and you. To…"

I didn't let him finish. I got up, walked around the desk and threw my arms around him. After a moment of stunned silence, he returned the embrace. I don't know how long I held on. It could have been seconds, or days, or weeks. Just the thought that I was hugging the man I had thought gone forever, fully overtaken by the mask he'd created for himself. Eventually, I did break the embrace and looked into my father's eyes, and saw that they were glistening. I knew mine were as well.

"If you want to make amends," I said, "There will be things you need to change. For one thing, your appalling treatment of laborers in the Dust mines must stop."

He nodded slowly.

"Cut off the ties you have with any criminals. If need be, report them all to General Ironwood." He winced. "I know, you and the General don't get along. But he isn't a bad man, from what Ruby tells me. I'm sure he'll listen, if you're honest with him."

He sighed deeply, but nodded his assent. I had the feeling that a weight hadn't just been lifted from my shoulders, but from his as well.

"Lastly," I said, sterner than before, and he looked up curiously, "I want you to talk to my friends. _Really_ talk to them. Especially Blake and Ruby. Show them the Jacques Schnee without the mask. Show me that everything you just said was true."

He just nodded solemnly and moved to get up, but it was that moment I thought of something else.

"Wait, there's one more thing."

He looked at me, waiting.

"I want to know where mother lives," I said softly.

Ever since she left I'd only had minimal contact with her because my father had always prevented it. But now…maybe I'd finally get the chance to see her again.

"I'll give you the address," my father replied.

He sounded resigned, as if he'd still rather not acquiesce to that particular request, but I wasn't about to give him grief over _that,_ especially now. We walked back downstairs in silence. When we entered the lounge room again, the others were having an animated discussion about what I presumed to be a game, but it instantly fell silent when they saw me and my father come in.

As soon as Ruby noticed my face, which was probably still a bit tear-stained, she immediately got to her feet.

"Weiss?"

I saw the worry in her eyes, saw that she was trying to think of something to say, but couldn't because she wasn't sure exactly what was wrong. I smiled and walked to her, feeling lighter than ever before. Without caring that Blake and Yang and my father were in the room with me, I walked over to her, wrapped my arms around her, and kissed her. She tensed up for just a moment, caught off guard, but then returned the embrace, returned the kiss. It was much like the kiss we'd shared in the forest, en route to Menagerie. The same wave of pinpricks washed over me, just like it had then. When we finally parted, she was blushing furiously, and looked both elated and a bit confused. Both Yang and Blake were just staring, wide eyed. I turned around and saw my father smiling warmly, a smile I could return and which felt even better because of how unlikely it was. I sat down on my chair again like nothing had happened, and my father took his place again as well.

My friends still looked at him a bit apprehensively, but he seemingly expected that and gave no real notice of it. His look became serious again when he looked at Blake. "Miss Belladonna," he said. "I have caused you and your family a lot of grief. The serial escalation of my conflict with the Faunus has led me to things I deeply regret." His face hardened, just a bit. "I will not pretend to forgive those who have murdered my family members and colleagues. To do so would be a stain on their memories…but I also cannot continue to place the blame solely on the Faunus as I have been doing. I know, and in my heart have always known, that many Faunus desire nothing more than peace and equality. In my anger, I refused them that. For what it's worth, coming from a man you rightly despise…I pledge to improve circumstances for the Faunus, and for the many Humans I mistreat as well. If there is something I can do to prove myself in your eyes, name it, and I will do it."

Blake blinked rapidly, so bewildered she didn't immediately respond. Then, she recovered. "Forgive me, but I have a hard time believing you. Years of negotiations and violence without any changes, and now you suddenly want to cooperate? If you want to prove your good intentions, then I suggest you contact my father on Menagerie. I'm sure there are several things he can think of where your wealth and connections will come in handy. As for me…well…Weiss seems to have regained her trust in you. I want to believe that she's right to do so. But at this moment, no, I can't trust you entirely, not yet. I've seen very skillful manipulation in my life, and there is no doubt that you are a natural at it."

I couldn't blame Blake for her reaction. Everything she had said was true, after all. Had my father still been wearing his mask, he would have taken the challenge head on, but now he simply bowed his head and said, "I will seek contact with Ghira Belladonna this very afternoon. I do not expect you to trust me yet. Were I in your position, I would be hesitant as well. But for now, let me at least thank you for trusting Weiss enough to even _consider_ trusting me."

Blake nodded once, slowly, then shot me a glance. I replied with a faint smile.

My father now turned to face Ruby, who was still beet-red. "Miss Rose," he began, and she immediately sat up as straight as she could. "First, let me apologize for giving you a hard time earlier. Mohn told me that she believed you and Weiss to be in a relationship…" Ruby stiffened at that, "…and because of that, I wished to check if you were strong enough." He smiled flatly. "I did so by checking only for the kind of strength that I possess: interpersonal communication."

Ruby looked blank, and I said, "It means he only checked your social skills."

Ruby nodded, but kept looking at my father. "It was wrong of me to do so. There are many different kinds of strength, as Weiss averred earlier, before I spoke to her in private. I think I saw a glimpse of your kind of strength when we entered the room just now. When you saw Weiss, you immediately focused on her, tried to assess what she needed and how you could provide it. It demonstrates your aptitude for leadership, as I believe you would have responded that way for each of your teammates. It's a quality of which I possess very little. I'm very glad that Weiss saw what I did not, and I wish you the best of fortune together."

For a second, Ruby was stunned, but then she smiled widely. "Thank you very much, Mr. Schnee. I'll take good care of Weiss…and I know she will do the same for me."

Now, there was no hesitation or fear in her voice anymore, something my father seemed to notice as well, because he raised one eyebrow at me. I replied with a smirk.

When my father spoke again, he addressed all of us. "As you may have noticed, the conversation I just had with Weiss changed my demeanor somewhat."

"Understatement of the century, right there…" Yang muttered.

"I'll leave the details of that story to Weiss, but for now…I believe that the four of you are in Atlas on official business. If you are allowed to say anything about it, I'd be very interested in hearing it. I might be able to offer aid."

The four of us exchanged glances. We could use our cover story…or we could tell the truth. After a short moment, Ruby looked at me and said, "It's up to you, Weiss."

I looked at Yang and Blake, to see if they agreed with what Ruby said, and each nodded their assent, Blake a bit hesitantly. I took a deep breath…and then told my father the truth.

* * *

When I finished the story, my father nodded gravely. "I see. I have met Bluefield before. There was no love lost between us, but I do believe that he would, indeed, be able to help. He seems to know a lot of what happens in Atlas, including a lot of things some would say he has no business knowing. In any event, I will not do anything that may jeopardize his willingness to help. I'll be happy to lend my assistance, should you need it, but I think it would be prudent for me not to interfere just yet."

"Do you think he'd refuse to help us if he knew you were helping us?" Blake asked rather sharply. The words 'because that's what you would do' were heavily implied.

"Bluefield despises me," my father said simply, "He may accept Weiss because your father vouched for her, but there is no way he would offer aid if he knows I am doing likewise. He does not forgive easily, and I fear I have never given him any reason to believe he should. His hatred of me is such that he would likely dispute me if I told him the world was round, and I would respond exactly the same way. Your meeting him…angers me greatly, but for Weiss's sake, for the sake of the promises I made to her, and to you, Miss Belladonna, I will set my feelings aside. Make no mistake, while Bluefield will most likely be able to help, he hates Humans as much as any White Fang militant. The difference is that he is capable of seeing the greater good, and that is why he opposes this Adam, and the violent faction of the White Fang. He does not believe that continuous violence will lead to a better world, but he shouldn't be provoked." He looked at all of us in turn, finally ending up with his eyes on me. "The mission you're on is dangerous. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what your Headmaster was thinking when he sent the four of you on it. But considering it led to our reconciliation, I'm not complaining that he did." His look became more intense. "But don't get yourself killed. I don't care if the world goes down in flames, as long as you don't get yourself killed."

I smiled. I'd never expected to hear my father openly say something like that. "We'll be fine. The four of us can handle anything," I said confidently, and I saw Ruby smiling brightly when I did.

We said our goodbyes, and I promised my father I'd visit as soon as our mission was over. When we were at the front door, Mrs. Blumenfeld came to say goodbye as well.

"Edelweiss Agnes," she began, and I winced. She had to be doing this on purpose. "Next time, don't wait such a long time before coming to visit." She glanced at Ruby. "Perhaps you and your girlfriend could spend some time here over the next holidays."

Both Ruby and I blushed, but I smiled and nodded. "That would be great. Take good care of father, Mrs. Blumenfeld," I said.

"Of course."

We went outside and began walking down the long driveway again. "Maybe we should have asked your father for a ride to the gate," Yang said jokingly.

"We could have, but he probably would have charged you for the fuel," I replied.

"So Weiss, what's next?" Ruby asked.

I gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your father gave you your mom's address, right? Do you want to visit her first, or go to Mr. Bluefield first?" she clarified.

I considered for a moment. I hadn't seen my mother in person in years. Even my last phone call with her was many months ago. But could I really delay our mission more than I already had done with this detour?

"I think we should see Mr. Bluefield first," I said reluctantly. "We'll go and visit my mother afterwards."

Ruby nodded. "Alright. Then let's go save the world," she said, striking a heroic pose.

"You're always so dramatic, Rubes," Yang said teasingly.

"Yes, but you're _supposed_ to be dramatic at moments like this," Ruby said, as if that was obvious.

I only partially listened to the argument that followed. I was mostly lost in thought, and still feeling the same lightness I'd been feeling ever since my father said he was okay with Ruby and me being together.

* * *

We took the monorail again to get us to the other side of the city. This time I did point out landmarks and special buildings to my friends, and it felt like only seconds had passed when we arrived at our stop. This part of the city was heavily involved in military research. No other kingdom put so much time and money into developing their standing army as Atlas did. As far as I knew, it was General Ironwood's intention to someday create a fully automated army, to minimize human casualties in our struggle against the Grimm. And, though no one generally said it out loud, to minimize Atlesian casualties in the event of another global war.

It didn't seem likely to happen, but General Ironwood wanted to be prepared for anything. It wasn't surprising that he did, either, because half his body was bionic. While the injuries themselves came from the Grimm, they had only been able to cause them because a man the General had trusted had turned on him. He'd been a spy for the very bandit tribe they had been hunting. The General had wiped out the entire tribe, but used so much of his Aura during the fight that he was unable to fight off the horde of Grimm attracted to the battle. He only survived because Winter and the soldiers under her command had arrived in time to save his life. It was then he had her transferred to his personal service. Ever since then, the General had been less than trusting of people.

As I guided us through the streets, past many military laboratories and surplus stores, I wondered if that traumatic event had also been the reason he had gone against Headmaster Ozpin's wishes and brought his army to Vale for the Vytal Festival.

We rounded a corner into a narrow street. It wasn't as bright and shiny as the rest of the district, but neither was it a dilapidated alley. A sign with dark blue neon letters advertised 'Bluefield Repair and Parts' in front of one of the larger buildings in the street.

"Well, there it is," I said rather unnecessarily.

We approached the building and entered through the large garage door. Inside, the air smelled of various kinds of oil and Dust. Several vehicles in different stages of dismantlement were directly in front of us, and to the sides in dedicated booths. Tool racks and chests were spread throughout the workshop.

One young man was digging around in a car engine. When he noticed us from the corner of his eyes he looked up. He was wearing blue coveralls and a matching blue cap, from beneath which came two red fox ears. His eyes were a deep golden color.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he said, smiling politely. "Can I help you?"

Blake stepped forward. "We have an appointment here with Mr. Bluefield," she said. "Is he in?"

The boy cocked his head. "With the boss himself? What did you break, an airship?"

Blake shook her head. "We're not here to get anything repaired. My name's Blake Belladonna, Ghira's daughter."

The boy frowned as he seemingly tried to recall where he'd heard the name before. "Oh! Kuo Kuana's chieftain, right? Alright, I'll go and get him." He pointed at a door farther back in the garage. "Why don't you take a seat in the reception area, and I'll send the boss to you."

We entered the door the boy had pointed out and sat down in the red leather seats in front of the currently unmanned reception desk. On one wall were cross sections of engine components. Another wall was adorned with many different certificates. After just a few moments of waiting, a door in the back of the reception area opened and a huge man came in.

He had a heavily tanned skin and instead of hair, he had two massive, swept back horns. His chest was so wide I was amazed he'd even managed to get through the door. His eyes were dark, and set deep into his face, giving him something of a perpetual scowl. Despite that, he smiled when he greeted Blake.

"Blake! It's been a long time. Last time I saw you, you almost fit in the palm of my hand." His voice was so deep I could almost feel my chest vibrating as he spoke. "I don't suppose you remember that, though," he went on.

Blake shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not," she said.

Mr. Bluefield shrugged. "Ah, it doesn't matter. Let's get to business, shall we? Adam is…"

"Hey, are we invisible?" Yang interjected angrily.

I agreed with her indignation; Mr. Bluefield hadn't so much as bothered to look at us yet. Now, though, he gave Yang a look that was so withering I'm amazed she didn't flinch at it.

"Are you deaf? No? Then I'm sure you'll hear everything you need to hear, Human. Ghira will have told you who I am, and I don't care whatsoever who you are."

He turned back to Blake and prepared to resume his story, but stopped when he saw the look on her face. "You could show my friends some courtesy," she said softly.

Bluefield made a non-committal motion with his head. "Hardly relevant to our conversation," he said.

"It's relevant to me," Blake said stonily.

Bluefield sighed. "Very well, then." He kept his look neutral, but when he looked at Ruby, Yang, and me, he still radiated contempt. "I'm Nyati Bluefield. As you will have noticed, I am a mechanic, and there is no doubt that I am the best at what I do. I also have many, many contacts in places Humans daren't venture." He paused for a moment. "I still don't care who you are. Ghira asked me to help, and since he's my friend I will do so. Beyond the information I'll give you now, however, you're on your own."

Blake sighed and gave the rest of us an apologetic look. The fact that she felt she had to apologize for Bluefield's behavior annoyed me far more than his abrasive attitude.

"So if there will be no more interruptions," Bluefield said with a glare at Yang, who coldly returned his look but said nothing, "I'll get down to business."

He waited for a moment, and when we all remained silent he began his story. "Adam wasn't fooling around when he wanted you to go to Vacuo. Over the last couple of months, White Fang presence in the area has been increasing sharply. From what I've heard, many old bases are being revived. Whatever it is they're planning there, it's going to be fierce. More so because Redhorn is in command there. He's vicious in a way I can't even describe. That's likely why he and Adam get along so well. Or well, get along so well _for now_. I don't think they'd be able to work together forever. But each still believes they have uses for the other, so for the time being they work together. Vacuo, however, isn't the immediate issue."

He fell silent for a moment and I looked at my friends. At that moment, all of us were probably thinking the same thing: that we were glad we hadn't gone to Vacuo. If we had, we would have likely walked straight into a trap. I turned my attention back to the present when Bluefield resumed his story.

"The White Fang here in Atlas have also been restless for some time. I'm not entirely sure why, but they seem to have fewer pieces of stolen equipment here than they have in the other three kingdoms. My guess is that the Atlesian military would be too efficient at taking down older models of their own technology, while the other kingdoms would not be. In any event, in recent years there have been attempts to build settlements outside the walls again. While they would be within close distance to the city proper, these settlements are at risk from an attack by either the White Fang or the Grimm."

"Wait, isn't Atlas too cold for Grimm?" I asked.

Bluefield wasn't happy with the interruption, but he did deign to answer my question. "It used to be, yes. When the city was first built, the climate was so hostile barely anything could live here. Further north that still holds true. But here in the city, and along large areas of the coast, Dust has been used to influence the climate to make it more appealing to Humans and Faunus who wish to live here. It's still cold, but many Grimm are more than strong enough to deal with this sort of cold now. The Atlesian military keeps them away, but with settlements outside of the walls, they'll be at risk just the same. Not many have been built yet, but there are a few villages scattered along the coast. One of them, Northern Star, has been coming up in White Fang communications many times of late. Northern Star was the first village to have been built outside the walls in decades. It is a symbol of pride for Atlas that it even exists, especially since the failed settlement at Mountain Glenn discouraged other extramural attempts at building villages. If, somehow, it would be destroyed, the consequences would be dire as people would lose faith in the military, in Atlas itself. I've warned the council, but like the rest of Remnant they've got their eye on the Vytal Festival now that it's finally begun. Ironwood fully believes the finals to be their target and it's blinded him to all else. In any case, that is all the information I can give you. I don't know what the White Fang's plans with Northern Star are. They're just competent enough to keep that hidden. All I know, and most of what they keep repeating, says something along the lines of a 'guide' coming to Northern Star soon. I'm sure that's code, but…you know what it means, don't you?" he asked, noticing all our faces darken when he mentioned the Guide.

Blake shook her head. "Not entirely. But whatever it is, you're probably right about Northern Star being important."

Bluefield nodded slowly. "Right. Then I'll trust you and your…friends…to handle it, Blake. Whatever they're doing, stop them. For all of our sakes."

"We'll do what we can. Thank you very much for your time. Have a good day. Oh," she added as an afterthought, "My father sends his regards."

We got up and turned around. When I stepped out of the office, I still felt Bluefield's dark, angry eyes burning in my back.

We walked back to the front of the workshop, where we saw the fox-eared boy again. "Everything go alright?" he asked, looking at our dour faces with a hint of worry in his eyes.

Blake gave him a faint smile. "Yeah, we just have a lot to take in. Thanks for the help," she said.

The boy tipped his hat as we walked by. I hoped he would one day take over the workshop from Bluefield; he seemed like a much nicer person than his boss.

When we were outside again, Yang asked, "Well, off to Northern Star, then?"

"Not yet," Ruby replied with a smile. "There's something else we need to do before going there." She looked at me. "We need to visit Weiss's mom."

 **And that's it. Believe it or not, my original intention was to put the visit in this chapter as well, but I felt that would be pushing it a bit too far. It does mean the next chapter will also likely be a bit longer, but it shouldn't be anywhere close to this one. Some points: Nyati is Swahili for buffalo. Not very original, but hey. Weiss's dropping of 'Mr.' in the narration is intentional. She didn't feel the need to be courteous to him anymore because of the way he treated her and her friends. And now, she's going to see her mother again for the first time in years. Honestly, I'm in a bit of a bind, ending the chapter here, but it was getting out of hand. I'll deal with it next time, and again, please let me know your thoughts. I'm honestly okay with any criticism you may have. I might not follow it to the letter in following chapters, but I will still keep it in mind, regardless. I hope to see you next time!**


	17. Light in the Darkness

**Another long chapter, but not nearly as long as the previous one. Still, important stuff happens here.** ** **Also, it's officially over 80k words now, and 100 pages in Word** And, at long last, this chapter is the one that gives this story its rating. I'm by no means very good at writing such chapters, but please do let me know what you think. Anyway, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Light in the Darkness**

According to Weiss, her mother lived on the other side of the city, which meant another trip with the monorail. I was absolutely fine with it, because Atlas had a lot to look at. They had fancy buildings for all sorts of things, from cool ones where people were building amazing weapons to boring ones where all they did was hold meetings all day.

But on this trip, I was too busy getting nervous over meeting Weiss's mother to really enjoy the architecture of Atlas. I knew it wasn't going to be like meeting her father, but this would be stranger in a way because Weiss hadn't even known where to find her mother before today. I wasn't sure exactly how long they hadn't spoken, but I guessed it wasn't going to be a short period. I looked at Weiss, who was absently staring out of the window, and wondered what would be going through her mind at that moment. It was hard for me to imagine, because my own mother had died so long ago. Unlike Weiss, I'd always known where to _find_ her, but she wouldn't ever reply. For Weiss, that long time of silence would finally end now. I was happy for her, even though a part of my heart seemed to hurt a bit thinking about it.

Weiss noticed that I was looking at her and smiled at me. Even though it looked the same as her smiles before, it still seemed somehow brighter now that her relationship with her father had been patched up.

"We're almost there," she said.

She sounded like she did the one time she got all of us to go with her to a lecture on Dust applications. It was more boring than the pamphlet she'd given to me on our first day at Beacon, but I'd never seen her more excited, until now.

"So Weiss, what's your mother called?" Yang asked. I realized that, as Weiss's girlfriend, I should probably have been the one to ask that question.

"Fotiá Chovóli," Weiss replied. "She was originally from Mistral and later moved to Atlas to go and live with my father."

"She didn't move back after they split up? I wouldn't really want to be anywhere near my ex-husband after that, especially if he's pulling strings to keep me away from my kids," Yang said.

Weiss sighed. "I can only guess that my father used his influence to keep her from leaving. I highly doubt she remained here of her own volition. But…we can ask her soon enough. Our stop is up next."

This station, unlike the one in front of Weiss's house, couldn't be called clean no matter how you tried. The platform was grimy, half of the vending machines had 'out of order' notes on them, and one of the trashcans had been ripped clean off its holder and kicked over.

"I thought Atlas prided itself on its strong law enforcement," Blake said as we walked past the carnage.

"This area is considered to be 'low priority'. It's beyond the touristic areas that are often seen and it houses very few buildings of interest. Areas considered low priority are the ones that have their law enforcement greatly diminished in the event of a threat, and with a large part of the army in Vale for the Vytal Festival, these areas only have token forces consisting of Humans and outdated Knights," Weiss replied with clear disgust. "Honestly, Atlas as a whole has the unmistakable pragmatism of the SDC written all over it, and General Ironwood doesn't have the finances to do anything against it. Winter has complained about it to father countless times, but he's always refused to budge. Maybe after his change of heart, he'll be a bit more receptive to the idea."

We walked down the broken escalator and stepped into a street which seemed to be entirely orange in the light of the setting sun. Here, the buildings were much lower than they had been in the area of town where Mr. Bluefield's garage had been located, and probably even lower than regular apartments in Vale. After the fancy appearance of nearly everything else in this city, it looked boring and almost depressing.

Weiss led us down the street and after a while turned right into a narrow, one way street. I'd almost expected the street lights there to be broken after the way the monorail platform had looked, but those, at least, seemed to be intact. We walked into a footpath with some trees in the middle, clearly planted there to spice up the dull gray of the buildings on either side. Weiss stopped in front of one of the houses, distinguishable from the others only because of the black '37' next to the door. It was only slightly wider than Henry's house in Mistral.

I could see that Weiss was nervous, so I stepped forward and put my hand on her shoulder. "We're all with you," I said encouragingly.

She smiled faintly at me and took a deep breath, then stepped forward and rang the doorbell. I could hear through the door that it sounded more like a buzzer than a bell. Weiss nervously shifted from one foot onto the other while we waited.

Then, the door was opened. In the opening stood a woman slightly taller than Weiss, with red hair much like Pyrrha's, only her eyes were a slightly darker blue than Weiss. Her face looked almost exactly the same as Weiss's. At first, the woman looked a bit puzzled, but as soon as she saw Weiss her eyes widened.

"Weiss?" she asked. Her voice sounded warm and friendly, despite her tone of surprise.

"Hello…mother," Weiss stammered nervously.

For an awkward moment, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, Weiss's mother threw her arms around her and pulled her into a hug, before letting go and telling us all to come in. She led us up a narrow and steep flight of stairs, which made a turn at the end into an equally narrow hallway. It had a dark carpet on the floor, and a door on the left led into the living room, which looked surprisingly cozy compared to the stern outside of the building. The floor was made out of fake wooden planks, the walls painted white. In the left side of the room, there was a heavy looking wooden table with four chairs. On the wall was a picture of a forest. A dark metal cabinet with glass doors was placed against the wall with the door in it, with a green chair next to it. On the right side of the room, there was a gray couch with a blue chair next to it, with a TV opposite it. Weiss's mother gestured at the couch and we all sat down. She herself sat down on the blue chair. She couldn't keep her eyes off Weiss.

"It's been so long," she said after a moment.

Weiss just nodded. She seemed just as unable to tear her eyes away from her mother as her mother was from her.

"I wish I could have visited you sooner," Weiss said. "But father always prevented me from finding out where you lived. I couldn't even track down your phone number to call you."

Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Yes, Jacques has a way of getting what he wants in this city," she said. "I've never been able to get in touch with you or Winter, either, despite my best efforts. I suppose I should count my blessings that I could still find a job in this forsaken city."

I winced at the bitterness in her voice. Clearly, a lot had happened between her and Mr. Schnee in the past.

"Well…" Weiss said hesitantly, "I've spoken to him. He says he's going to change how he does things, from now on. That he'll return to being the man he once was."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Jacques is very good at making promises, much less so at keeping them," she said. Then her eyes flitted towards the rest of us briefly, before returning to Weiss. "But first, I think I owe your friends an introduction. My name is Fotiá Chovóli. I am, as I suppose you already know, Weiss's mother. I'm going to assume you're Weiss's teammates at Beacon, but I'm afraid I don't know your names."

Yang and Blake introduced themselves first, and then it was my turn. "My name is Ruby Rose. I'm Weiss's partner at Beacon and…" I hesitated and looked at Weiss, who nodded almost unnoticeably. "…and I'm also her girlfriend," I finished, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside because Weiss had given me approval to say it.

It still felt strange, but it was a very good kind of strange. Weiss's mother blinked once, and then a wide smile appeared on her face.

"Girlfriend? Weiss, that's great!" she said. "Such a cute girl, too," she added after another look at me. Weiss and I blushed and Yang chuckled.

"Yes, she's absolutely _precious_ ," Yang said with a mocking grin.

I groaned.

"Jealous your little sister has a girlfriend and you don't?" Weiss's mother asked innocently.

Yang's face turned as red as my hood and she stammered, "What…that's not…I mean…I…"

Weiss stared at her mother with wide eyes while I doubled over laughing.

"I'm guessing you got your wit from mother, then?" Blake asked drily.

"You'd be surprised, actually," Weiss's mother said. "Jacques actually has a supremely dry sense of humor, or at least he had long ago. That's one of the things I used to like about him."

I couldn't really imagine Mr. Schnee as the type of person who would crack a joke, but before I could comment on it Weiss's mother had already changed the subject.

"So, Weiss, what brings you to Atlas? I can't imagine you would come here just for a family visit."

While Weiss explained what we were doing here, not even bothering with our cover story, I thought about how often we'd told people our mission lately. Every time we did, I realized just how little we actually _knew_ about what the White Fang and Torchwick and Cinder were up to. Even though we kept finding new leads, we still weren't any closer to actually stopping whatever it was our enemies were planning for us. Even our new destination, Northern Star, didn't have anything else to it than that, a location for us to go to. Was this really how a normal mission would work? Going from place to place, just to find out what you were actually supposed to be doing? I'd always known that being a Huntress was about more than fighting evil monsters of darkness, but even then I would have thought that a Huntress would at least know what she was supposed to do on a mission. We had nothing like that, and that worried me.

Weiss finished telling the story to her mother, who, just like all the other parents we'd met recently, wondered why Professor Ozpin would send us on a task like this.

"I mean, this sounds like the kind of mission you should leave to a fully qualified team of Huntsmen, not some first-years," she said, looking at all of us in turn as if she didn't really believe we'd thought it through.

Weiss sighed. "I know. I don't really understand it either, and I'm not really sure whether or not Professor Ozpin is doing the right thing. He seems to see things beyond what is immediately obvious, but what those things are, I wouldn't know. But when we agreed to this mission, we also agreed, implicitly, to trust his judgement on the matter. I'm not going to go back now, not after everything we've already gone through," she said.

I grinned at her words. It hadn't even been that long ago when Weiss had argued against going after the White Fang because we were still first-years. And now, here she was defending our choice to go after them.

Her mother nodded somewhat unhappily. "I guess I should be grateful, too," she mused. "If it hadn't been for this mission of yours, we wouldn't have been able to meet up again like this. So…let's just leave the serious business for what it is for now. Tell me about how you've been, the things you get up to in school when you're not off on crazy missions, how you ended up falling in love with your teammate…"

"Mom!" Weiss interrupted. "We've had the embarrassment, thanks," she said pointedly.

Her mother cocked her head curiously. "That's the first time in _years_ you've called me 'mom'," she said.

I felt a chill running down my spine and knew immediately how significant that moment must have been to her mother.

Weiss blinked a few times. "Yeah…I…I guess it is," she said.

Weiss's mother threw her arms around her and pulled her close. For a few moments, no one moved or spoke. Weiss's mother eventually let go of Weiss and looked at her with watery eyes.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that again, instead of 'mother'." Now she looked at me and smiled. "I guess I have you to thank for it, otherwise I'd have had no way to embarrass her that much."

I chuckled and smiled brightly at Weiss, who like her mom had quite watery eyes.

For the rest of the evening, we told stories of our time at Beacon, our teachers, our friends in other teams, and about our earlier run-ins with the White Fang.

With every passing minute, I saw Weiss getting more relaxed and happy. I understood her all too well. Much like Blake on Menagerie, this was Weiss's moment to face her past and it had gone far better than she had ever dared to dream.

Weiss's mother told us about her life after she'd left Mr. Schnee. She'd wanted to stay in Atlas so she could still keep an eye on Winter and Weiss, and had picked up her old job as a blacksmith again.

I gasped so loudly that my friends thought I was choking when she revealed that. "You mean you make weapons for Huntsmen and Huntresses?!" I asked at perhaps a slightly loud volume.

She nodded. "That's right. Even though most Huntsmen make their own weapons, not all of them are good at that. They come to me, and together we come up with a design that suits their fighting style and Semblance, which I then build. Of course, I also do repairs on weapons made by others, if necessary. I actually forged Myrtenaster's predecessor, Amaryllis, for Weiss when she was younger."

"That is so awesome!" I grabbed Crescent Rose and began pointing out all of the features I'd installed on her.

"Ruby, you dolt, we're not here to discuss our weapons," Weiss said sternly, interrupting my explanation of the various kinds of ammo I could load Crescent Rose with.

"But your mom's a blacksmith," I protested. "She's probably the one aside from Uncle Qrow who can appreciate the inner workings of awesome weapons like sniper scythes."

"Qrow? Qrow Branwen?" Weiss's mother asked.

I blinked stupidly. "You know my uncle?" I asked, at the same moment Weiss asked, "You know that vulgarian?"

Weiss's mother laughed. "I know him, yes. Whenever he's around Atlas for missions he drops by. I met him years ago when he was blackout drunk and his weapon wouldn't function properly…insert your own raunchy jokes here," she added with a look at Yang, who decided not to make whatever joke she was readying, having been beaten to the punch. "In any case, ever since then we kept in contact. I don't think I ever bothered telling him about my connection with Jacques, since he was quite vocal about his dislike for the Schnee family. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he knows exactly who I am, it's hard to tell with him sometimes." She looked at me. "I'm guessing he helped you build your weapon, then? It figures. Scythes aren't that popular with people. Too difficult to handle and not very useful in cramped areas."

I nodded. "He taught me everything I know," I said proudly.

"It's a small world, I guess," Weiss's mother said. She looked out of the window. "I think it's time for you to get going." She looked back at us. "It's been great, getting to know all of you, and to finally reconnect with you, Weiss. When your mission is done, I hope you'll come over to visit for a longer time, but right now I don't want to keep you from your work. If Northern Star is indeed in danger, like you said, it's probably best if you get there as soon as possible."

Weiss nodded sadly. "I know. I…I'm really glad I got to see you again, after all this time," she said. She seemed about to say something else, but she couldn't find the words.

Her mother understood her perfectly, however, and drew her close for one more hug. "Keep up the good work, Weiss. Stay strong, and you'll be fine, I know it."

"Yeah…yeah, I guess," Weiss said softly.

* * *

We walked back to the monorail in silence. I was holding Weiss's hand, but I knew she was lost in thought so I decided to leave her be. Yang and Blake, too, kept quiet. Once the monorail began to glide out of the station, Weiss seemed to be shaken from her thoughts.

"So," she said, a bit awkwardly. "What are we going to do once we get to Northern Star?" she asked.

"I say we find an inn," Yang said. "This day has been incredibly long, and we're not going to uncover any plots if we're half asleep."

Blake and I agreed with Yang, and Weiss nodded.

"Right, then we'll head over to Seaview. The name is rather generic but it's a very luxurious hotel. After a month on a boat I'm dying to get into a comfortable bed again, even if only for one night."

Yang nodded. "It sounds good, but how exactly will you pay for that?"

Weiss shrugged. "The SDC financed the build of the hotel for a large part. I'm sure they can rent us two rooms for one night against a reduced rate."

Yang grinned. "I'll leave that up to you, then."

When Yang began a conversation with Blake, Weiss turned to me. "I, um, I was thinking," she whispered.

I noticed she was blushing a bit and I felt my own heart rate climbing in response. "Yeah?" I whispered back.

"I…A lot has happened today. I feel happier than I have in years. We're alone tonight. What I want to say is…well…maybe we can…you know…do something. Together."

She was bright red when she finished speaking. Judging by the heat in my cheeks, I wasn't looking any different. I knew what she was talking about. In my head, I'd been thinking 'yes' from the moment I realized what she was saying.

"I…I think I would like that," I whispered.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Yang looking at us and smiling lightly.

* * *

In true Atlas style, the hotel was at the end of the monorail line. It was by far the largest building in the small village, brightly lit by spotlights around it. Northern Star itself had mostly low buildings, styled to look like they were much older than they actually were. The streets were patrolled by the newest Atlesian mechs and well-armed soldiers, necessary because the village lacked the massive wall of Atlas itself. Normally, the weaponry would have been incredibly fascinating to me, but now I was focused on _other_ things.

We entered the lobby of the hotel and walked up to the counter, when an impeccably groomed man with gray hair and a thin moustache was waiting for us. He gave us a somewhat disapproving look, until his eye fell on Weiss.

"Miss Schnee," he said, with a small bow. "How may I help you tonight?"

His voice was trained to be polite, but even I could hear that this man preferred to deal with wealthy businessmen instead of a group of teens.

"I'd like to book two suites for tonight," Weiss said.

The man behind the counter smiled widely, but there was no warmth. "Certainly, but you surely know that our suites do not come cheap," he said.

Weiss nodded. "I'm aware. You may put it on the tab of the SDC," she said.

Now the man did give a genuine smile, although it was a very greedy one. "I shall reserve our best suites immediately, Miss Schnee. If you could just sign here…"

Weiss and the man behind the counter took care of the paperwork, and Yang whispered, "'Reduced rate' my ass…she's just letting her father pay for everything." She chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining. I've always wanted to find out how good high-end hotels are."

Weiss finished the paperwork and held out a key to Yang. "Well, here's your chance," she said. "Our rooms are on the top floor."

She began walking to the elevator, and the rest of us quickly followed her. The hallway we had to walk through to get to our rooms was incredibly long and the doors seemed to be spaced oddly far apart. I wondered if that meant the rooms here were really that big.

Eventually, Weiss stopped walking. "This room is ours, Ruby. Yang and Blake, yours is the next one over."

"Well then, ladies," Yang said, "Good night to both of you. I'm going to find out if these hotels are worth the second mortgage you need to stay here."

She and Blake walked over to their room, while Weiss opened our door. The room I stepped into was far bigger than the one we'd shared in Mistral, even though that hadn't been a cheap hotel either. The bed alone would fill up a normal-sized room, and there were countless pillows on it. I entered the bathroom, which actually had marble tiles in it, as well as the fluffiest towels I'd ever felt and a bathtub you could swim in. I was so busy admiring the room that for a moment I forgot my nerves. They came back when I turned around and saw Weiss standing right in front of me.

"So..." I said uncertainly. "Now what?"

Weiss took a deep breath. "First, let's just get ourselves cleaned up. After that…we'll see," she said. She turned around and said, "You can go first."

* * *

I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in one of the hotel's fluffy towels. I felt a bit awkward, sitting there in nothing but a towel, since I usually got dressed immediately after coming out of the shower. I also didn't think I'd been as clean as I was now in years.

My mouth was a bit dry as I sat waiting for Weiss to finish up in the bathroom. The big light on the ceiling was turned off, and the room was only lit by the fancy lights above our nightstands. A massive flatscreen TV decorated the wall opposite the bed. My heart was pounding. Until now, I'd only ever fantasized about doing…the kind of stuff Weiss wanted to do now. I had no real idea how it would work, how it would go, in reality. I held up a hand. It trembled slightly and I took a deep breath. I was probably just overreacting. After all, how difficult could this really be? I'd probably be fine.

I heard the bathroom door open and my heartbeat went up by a thousand beats per minute. Weiss round the corner from the bathroom door. She too was wearing a fluffy towel. Her hair was undone, not in her usual ponytail. I tried to control my breathing. Weiss sat down next to me on the bed. I looked at her. The light wasn't very bright, but I could see the gleam in her eyes.

Slowly, she leaned in towards me, and I mirrored her. When our lips met, I felt pinpricks all over my body. I could feel Weiss's soft lips, smell the mint of her toothpaste. She pulled back a little bit and smiled at me.

"Relax," she whispered, and I nodded faintly.

She leaned back in again and kissed me again, this time gently putting her hands on my back. I did the same and pulled her in a little closer, made the kiss a little more intense. I felt that Weiss opened her mouth a little and once again I followed her lead. It was a strange feeling when I felt her tongue against mine. I felt heat rushing through my body and every movement of Weiss's hands on my back sent little shocks through me as if her fingers were coated in lightning Dust. Eventually, we parted again.

"Ruby…are you sure you want to do this?" Weiss asked.

I nodded, still breathless. At that moment, there was nothing I wanted to do more than be with Weiss, touch her, kiss her, and do many other things.

"Then…let's lie down," Weiss said softly.

I lay back and scooted myself up the bed so that my head was on a pillow. I felt that my towel wasn't as securely wrapped around me anymore and that realization sent another wave of heat through my body. Instead of lying down next to me, Weiss instead sat over me on hands and knees, and she began kissing my exposed shoulders, moving up to my neck and making me shiver in pleasure. I wrapped my hands around her back and moved them up and down. I wanted to go lower, but I held back. Not yet. Not yet. I could feel that Weiss was getting a bit impatient, too, because she softly bit my neck as she kept kissing. My breathing got quicker, but I still didn't move my hands any lower than the small of Weiss's back. Weiss sat up for a moment and looked into my eyes, and I completely lost myself in them.

All kinds of thoughts were shooting through my head, but none of them were very coherent. Weiss cocked her head the tiniest bit, and then a small smile appeared on her face. She bent over again and kissed my lips, then my cheek, my neck, my collarbone…and then she slowly began to pull way the towel covering me. Bit by bit, she moved lower down my chest, right down the middle. I gasped a little when I felt the towel slip low enough to uncover my whole chest. Weiss stopped kissing for a moment and looked at me, her eyes wild. Then she began kissing again, fiercer than before. Still she went lower, and I couldn't really stroke her back anymore now. I felt her kissing my bellybutton and moving further down. My entire upper body was exposed now, but I felt hotter than I ever had at that moment.

Weiss clambered off me and lay down next to me now. Looking straight into my eyes, she reached her hand towards my chest and began circling my boob with her finger. Her finger was colder than my skin, and I gasped every time she got close to the center. I began stroking her back again now, and this time I did go lower than before. Even though I was feeling it through the towel, my mind went completely blank when I touched Weiss's bottom. Weiss's breath seemed hitched for a moment when I touched her, which drove me even wilder. I moved my hand upwards a bit jerkily, and I felt that I loosened the towel around her body.

Weiss noticed it too, and stopped teasing me for a moment to lower her own towel with maddening slowness. She still kept her lower body covered, but I couldn't take my eyes off her pale body, the slight definition of her muscles on her belly, and her boobs, not much bigger than my own but which drew my attention like nothing else. I reached out, touched her belly, and slowly moved my hand up her body to cup her left boob. I gently squeezed it, which sent a shiver down Weiss's spine and a strong urge to jump on top of Weiss through my body.

But before I could, Weiss had leaned in close and kissed me in the same pattern she'd followed with her finger just before. This time, though she _did_ touch the sensitive nub in the center, and my hand, which I'd moved back to her back, tensed up. I moved it downwards and felt my fingers brushing the edge of the towel, and I kept moving downward. Weiss's breathing became irregular as I moved around the curve of Weiss's body, down her leg a bit and back up again.

Weiss kept kissing me, switching from my boob, to my neck, to my lips, and down my neck to my other boob, and now put her hand on my belly. She moved it lower and went beneath the towel. I stopped moving, completely distracted by the feeling of Weiss's hand which was still going lower, but now slightly to the side as well. I felt her touch the spot where my leg joined my body, barely avoiding the most sensitive part of my body, which seemed to be radiating more heat than a fire at the moment.

I tensed up a bit, every time Weiss moved her finger up, then across, then down. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, still following the movements of Weiss's hand. She withdrew her hand and I opened my eyes again.

Weiss grabbed my towel and looked at me. I nodded. Yes, I was very much okay with what she wanted to do. She pulled away the towel, and now I was fully naked. That realization seemed to electrify every cell in my body. Weiss was taking me in. In the back of my mind, I heard a faint voice wondering if she'd like me, a voice of uncertainty, but the look in Weiss's eyes told me I had nothing to worry about. She put her hand on my lower belly again and slowly slid it downwards.

I followed her movements with my eyes. I felt her finger touch the skin that no one but me had ever touched. Slowly, she moved along the opening between my legs, but she didn't do more yet. I moaned softly, and Weiss's breathing became irregular now. Weiss pushed softly, and her fingers slipped between the folds of skin, but not inside of me. She softly rubbed the small bud there, and I moaned again and leaned back into the pillow. I closed my eyes again as I let Weiss continue with what she was doing.

She began kissing me again while continuing to stroke me, and I squeezed her bottom a bit. Weiss began going lower with her kisses now, down my neck again, and past my boobs, down my belly, even lower…and then I felt her gently spread my legs apart, and kiss me between them. I felt her tongue moving up and down, and the feeling was driving me insane.

Nothing I'd ever imagined had prepared me for the real thing. I moaned, louder than before, and Weiss took that a signal to keep going. Up and down, left and right, every movement like being tasered in the best way possible. She shifted her body a bit and I felt her fingers touching me, beneath the movement of her tongue. They slid in without any resistance.

The movements she made were so very different from the things I'd done myself. I felt that she had her fingers bent, just a bit, so with every move she rubbed against the front. It felt odd, but combined with the way she licked me it was the best feeling I'd ever had. Her hand began to move faster, more insistent, and each movement just made me more and more sensitive. I was breathing quickly and shallowly and I couldn't focus on anything except the feeling of Weiss tongue and fingers.

Because of that, at first I didn't even notice that I was beginning to feel a familiar sort of pressure, which was getting stronger with every move Weiss's fingers made. I didn't want her to stop, but…

"Weiss," I said softly, "I think I…"

"Shh," she interrupted me. "Just relax. It's fine, I promise."

Then she began licking and moving again, and my thoughts were scattered again. I still felt the pressure through the pleasure Weiss was giving me, but I trusted her. Then I began to feel something else, too. All of Weiss's motions, both with her tongue and her hand, and even the pressure I felt, it all built up to something massive. My breath caught in my throat and I felt all the muscles in my body clenching, exploding in a way I'd never ever experienced by myself. Lights flashed behind my closed eyelids and I almost screamed out but kept it down to a moan.

I felt the energy drain away from me and took a couple of deep breaths. I opened my eyes and saw that the bed had a large wet spot on it, but before I could say anything Weiss said, "It's not what you think."

Somehow, her voice, and the sight of her, still half covered by her towel, reignited a bit of the fire within me and I pushed her over onto her back, determined to return the favor. I pulled her towel away from her and stared stupidly at how gorgeous her body beneath me was. I moved downwards slowly, not in a kissing path like Weiss had done, but without touching at all. Like I'd hoped, it made Weiss a bit fidgety as she tried to get me to kiss her. I stopped when my face was right in front of her…womanhood.

Gingerly, I leaned forward and kissed it. I felt Weiss shudder, and I did it again, before spreading her legs apart to give myself some more room. I leaned down again and began to lick her. It was odd. In a way, it felt like licking any other part of skin, but in another it was vastly different. It was already wet, and the taste was just a bit more acidic than normal skin would be, and something about it was intoxicating. I moved my tongue up and down, sometimes pushing a bit harder, sometimes softer.

Weiss's breathing was beginning to get shallower, and I hesitantly moved my hand over, easily gliding into Weiss's body. I tried to do what Weiss had done with me by slightly bending my fingers and moving backwards and forwards. Weiss understood what I was doing and grabbed my hand, bending my wrist just a bit more.

"Like that," she whispered, and I continued. Soon, Weiss moaned loudly. "Yes, like that…just a bit…faster," she said distractedly.

I did as she asked, moving both my tongue and my hands faster, and I felt the spongy tissue I was moving past swelling up and getting harder as my fingers moved past it quicker. Weiss's breathing got faster and faster, and then, all everything clenched up and I was surprised as I felt a warm liquid spraying in my face. I pulled my head back in surprise and looked. The liquid had no scent, and now I understood what Weiss had meant. Weiss lay on her back, panting, not bothered by my wet face.

"Ruby, I lo…"

"Not yet," I interrupted her.

She gave me a questioning look. "Not just yet," I repeated.

Those words were powerful, meaningful to me in a way I couldn't explain. All I knew was that this was not yet the place to say them.

Weiss nodded slowly. "Okay. Not just yet, then...but promise me that when you're ready, you will say it," she said.

I nodded, more in love with Weiss than I had ever been before. "I promise."

 **And so ends another chapter. This scene is the only one of such a nature in the story. I'm not particularly adept at writing them but I wanted to give it one more go, and this was it. Some notes: Weiss's mother's name means 'Fire Ember' in Greek, because I figured I already changed Weiss's heritage a lot, might as well change her mother into a very different character as well. With that said, please let me know what you think, and I will see you next time.**


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